


Trading Life For Love

by DelicateDragons, terminator82



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: 6 arcanum Callum for the win, Avatar References may apply., F/F, F/M, M/M, Viren is insane... Literally.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:20:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 55
Words: 71,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24058864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DelicateDragons/pseuds/DelicateDragons, https://archiveofourown.org/users/terminator82/pseuds/terminator82
Summary: My rendition of what's to come in the Dragon Prince: Callum and Rayla go through some stuff, Callum thinks he should attempt to master all the six arcanums, Viren is... There. Ezran returned to Katolis to rein as king. Let the action/romance commence!
Relationships: Amaya/Janai (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Claudia/Therapy (The Dragon Prince), Ethari/Runaan (The Dragon Prince), Lain/Tiadrin (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 179
Kudos: 199





	1. Trading Life for Love

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first time I've shared my creative writing, so that means it's my first post on AO3 as well. I'm not sure if there is some formatting thing I'll mess up, but do feel free to dispense as much constructive criticism as you can! I hope you like this!

“His name… Is Aaravos,” Viren explained to his daughter. His little bug pal had left him, temporarily, he hoped. His daughter claudia had used a strenuous amount of dark magic, supposedly to return him to life. That’s what she had said, but obviously Viren didn’t remember any of it. He had really died.

[~-~]

“What the heck?” Ezran had finished with what he was doing on the battlefield, and climbed up the storm spire to make sure everything was okay. Well, he didn’t really climb, he rode on his dragon friend, but that doesn’t matter all too much. He reached the top and found his brother Callum holding their friend, his girlfriend, in his… wings. They both looked like they had gone through an ordeal, but it didn’t seem as if they were completely calm yet, so he resolved to ask about it later. There was one thing that he couldn’t wait to ask about, though. “Where did you get wings?”  
“They’re mage wings, Ez.” He spread them wide and stood tall. “Cool, huh?” Ezran was more than impressed. The young king had looked up to his brother his entire life, and then he became a mage! He couldn’t put into words how proud he was of Callum.

[~-~]

Callum felt the same way about Ezran. He had grown up so much in just the month that they had been traveling. He took responsibility and became king, and helped immensely in what came to be known as the Battle of the Storm Spire. Callum remembered what he had said to his brother prior to the battle, something about being proud of him for riding dragons. His words were proposed as a joke, but they carried his true emotions, too.  
Callum snapped out of his memory and back into reality.  
He looked at his brother. “How are things down there? Is it over?”  
Ezran Grinned, showing his teeth. “Yeah, I think it is. What about Viren? What happened up here?”  
Callum shuddered, and felt Rayla do the same, at the mention of Katolis’s former high mage.  
Rayla Spoke up, “Viren’s dead. I knocked him off the cliff.”  
Now that he was thinking about it, Callum hadn’t really had time to process what had just occurred. More importantly, he hadn’t thought about the possibility that Viren still lived. “Maybe we should make sure,” he muttered. His two friends’ eyes met his, and he sighed. “Later.”  
Hours later, the cheerful sights and sounds of celebration could be sensed from a mile away. They cheered away their voices, and drank away the night. Things were great. Callum looked at the sight before him, letting out a peaceful sigh. For hundreds of years, elves and humans wouldn’t be caught dead hanging around each other, and now? They let all that aside. They were partying. Together. It was quite the scene, Callum thought. Queen Zubeia had let them use the storm spire for their celebration. After all, the battle that they fought was to protect her child, Azymondias, the Dragon Prince.  
“Hey there, mage.” Rayla brushed his arm, holding a plate of food for the both of them. She sat beside him, both of them a ways away from the center of attention, though somehow it found its way to them. Ezran was really curious as to what happened earlier that day. Callum remembered it vividly: it wasn’t something he would be able to forget easily.  
He was on his way to the peak of the Storm Spire. Neither Rayla nor Zym were guarding the Dragon Queen: something was very wrong. As he ascended, something dropped and stuck into the ground before him. He quickly recognized it as being one of Rayla’s assassin weapons. He looked over to where it came from, and saw Zym in the air, as if trapped there. He ran faster than he ever thought he could. Viren was doing something to Zym, and the chances of whatever it was being good were slim to none. He got to the last patch of stairs, just in time to see Rayla on her knees. Zym was trapped in a dark purple tornado: some sort of essence was pouring out of him and flowing into Viren. He watched as Rayla decided her course of action. He saw her expression change, and knew all too well what was behind it. It was a face he had worn many times throughout their journey. He could only muster words as she sprinted toward Viren, and he screamed, ‘Rayla, No!’ It was too late, however, and she was falling. The corners of his eyes and his nose started to burn as tears started to form. Rayla had thrown her life away to save Zym. She was gone. But Callum didn’t care. He couldn’t imagine a world without Rayla, nor did he want to. He threw himself over the ledge after her, praying that he could save her. He couldn’t imagine not seeing her smile, and roll her eyes at him. He couldn’t live without the comfort of her voice. He couldn’t be left to live without her at his side. Rayla looked up at him, her hair billowing up as she fell closer and closer to death. She reached up to him, trying to grasp his hand one more time. Callum desperately needed to succeed in casting the spell this time. He shouted the incantation, “Manus. Pluma. Volantus.” Nothing happened. He tried again. “Manus! Pluma! Volantus!” Once again, his incantations resulted in failure. He looked down at Rayla. She wore a kind smile, even as plummeting to her death. This couldn’t be happening. Not to her. He… He loved her. One more time. He had to try. He breathed in, feeling one with the air surrounding him, letting the magic of the sky flow through him. His love for Rayla, it was… freeing. “Manus. Pluma. Volantus.” He felt his arms sprout wings, and he felt that he was no longer at the mercy of the sky. He caught Rayla, and they flew. She asked, “But how?” He could only respond with one answer. “Because I love you, Rayla.”  
“Eh, I jumped off the Spire and Callum saved me. That’s pretty much it” Rayla answered. Ezran looked a little disappointed, but the others sitting around them gaped at what she had said.  
“You jumped off of the Storm Spire?” Janai, a sunfire elf, questioned.  
“Yup, and Callum here followed me.” She elbowed him in the ribs. Not that he really noticed, he was caught up in his thoughts. I never thought I could love someone other than Ezran enough to kill myself over. Huh. Rayla leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. That worked: he snapped out of it immediately, feeling slightly mischievous now that he had the clarity he was looking for.  
He looked directly into her eyes and cupped his hand to her cheek, giving her the warmest, lovingest smile he could muster. Realizing that they still had an audience, Rayla blushed and turned away. Callum started giggling: his plan had worked perfectly.  
The night ended late, as most parties do, and Ibis showed them to a room. He had seen them; they didn’t need seperate rooms.  
The two shared a bed that night. They had been through so much turmoil in just a month. Callum was sure that he was going to be with Rayla for the rest of his life: he loved her enough to trade his life for hers, hell, even to die with her.  
Despite being unfathomably tired, sleep did not come easy for Callum. He tossed and turned; it didn’t exactly help that their bed was small, and they slept with their backs to each other, each not wanting to make the situation awkward. However, sleep did in fact come, though it was not peaceful.  
Callum opened his eyes and found himself atop the Storm Spire with Rayla. He stood in the center of the nexus, while she was on the edge. ‘Rayla? What’s goin--” She silenced him with a finger before leaning back and letting herself fall. ‘Ralya, no!’ He screamed, and moved to catch her, but found himself stuck in place. ‘No… nonono, this can’t happen.’ He heard her voice, calling for his name. She sounded distressed, she needed help! He managed to move his body, and launched himself over the edge. He called for her, but no matter how fast he tried to fall, she remained out of his reach. He tried to conjure his mage wings, but he couldn’t remember the words. All the while, she continued to call for him, begging him to… wake… up?  
It was then that his actual eyes opened, and he found himself in Rayla’s arms. “You big dumb human… I was so worried that you weren’t going to wake up.”  
Callum was in a daze, but he could recognise one thing: Rayla was here. Rayla was safe. The both of them were now sitting up in bed, and Callum’s face began to wet with tears. Soon, he was completely breaking down, unable to dam the flow of tears cascading from his eyes.  
“Shh, it’s okay. I’m here. I’m okay.” Rayla patted the back of his hair as he cried into her shoulder. “You were calling my name in your sleep. Whatever it was, it must have been pretty scary, huh?”  
Callum only hugged her tighter. “I thought I was going to lose you… I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I was so scared that I couldn’t see you again, Rayla.”  
They sat in silence for a while longer. “It’s okay, Callum. I’m not going anywhere.” They let themselves lay back down when Callum was calm.  
“Hey, Rayla?” He asked.  
“Yeah, Callum?”  
“Can I hold your hand tonight?”  
“Of course.”  
“Thank you, Rayla. Goodnight.”  
“G’night Callum.”  
They both drifted off into peaceful sleep.


	2. Reflection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm probably not gonna stick to a release schedule unless that's something people really want: I'll just release new chapters as they're finished.

They hadn’t slept alone since. A few days past, and most of the soldiers who weren’t still recovering from injuries went home. They had spoken with Queen Zubeia about staying on the Storm Spire. She was more than willing to let them stay as long as they wanted; they had brought her baby home. Zym was even more cheerful than before. He was with his mom, and two of his best friends--Ezran had already headed back to Katolis to retake his place as king. Even though Callum had told him he’d come back once Zym was home, he couldn’t help but want to stay in Xadia, at least for a while. Rayla wanted to reinstate the dragonguard, and was training recruits. Meanwhile, Callum did his best to learn more about magic, and scouted around the Spire, looking for… something. Rayla had asked, but he was distracted before he had a chance to answer. Oh well, she thought. I’ll ask him later. The new recruits for the dragonguard were all spectacular in their own ways. There were only three, but those three were some of the strongest elves Xadia had to offer. Rayla felt a little awkward, being expected to train her elders, but she did her best anyway. After all, she couldn’t leave Zym in untrustworthy hands, no matter how capable they were. Defense and loyalty were the biggest lessons she focussed on, since their combat capabilities didn’t leave too much to be desired.  
Rayla had her own fair share of trauma from the events that took place little under a week ago. Callum was just better at showing it. It wasn’t anything incredible, and she didn’t have nightmares like he did, but it had still been scary. She trained much more than usual: she had been helpless against Viren. Tackling him off the Spire was the only thing she could have done, and that was scary. It was a good thing that she had her recruits, they were a good challenge for her, though they had to attack her two on one, at least.  
Villard was a moonshadow elf, like herself, and he wielded a very similar weapon to her mentor, Runaan. That’s why Rayla found it so easy to spar with him: she knew all the tricks of the sword-bow Villard wielded, and he was less adept than her teacher.  
Saraal was a sunfire elf who wielded the staple weapon of her people: a sunforge blade.  
Finally, Shalle was a skywing elf, who had been born with the gift of wings, much like Nix, an elf they had (regrettably) met earlier in their adventure. Shalle brandished a set of daggers much like Rayla’s, and adopted a fighting style that relied heavily on flying.  
They were all great fighters, but needed to work as a team if they were to be a competent guard. They had a long way to go.

[~-~]

Flying was one of the greatest things Callum could do. He had added it to his list of hobbies quite quickly after figuring out how to do it. This flight, however, was not for leisure. He was looking for something, or someone. He had to find Viren’s body. Otherwise, he would never feel safe again.  
Alas, another day passed where he didn’t find what he was looking for. It couldn’t have been too hard; Callum knew exactly where Viren fell from. He should have been able to find a body by now, unless… No. There’s no way he could have survived a fall off of the Storm Spire. Perhaps he just needed to take a minute and breath. That had been a lesson he learned when he connected to the sky arcanum. Sometimes, you have to let the rest of you catch up with your brain. Callum landed on the top of the Storm Spire and sighed. “There’s another day, down the drain.” He looked into his bag. “Maybe I’m just wasting my time here. Yeah, I think I’m just being paranoid. We can have someone else look into this.” He reached into his bag and pulled out something he hadn’t in a while. The sky rune glowed gently as he pulled it out. “My dad calls you the ‘Key of Aaravos.’ I’m not even sure who Aaravos is, but he must have been someone special, if he managed to master all six of the arcan--wait. I wonder if?” Callum returned the key to his bag and decided to test his theory. He dashed down the stairs of the Spire. He needed to see Rayla.

[~-~]

All that he’s ever done has been for humanity’s sake. Why couldn’t anyone see that he was just trying to secure them a better future? Sure his actions may have come off as being that of a megalomaniac, and sure, he was enjoying the things he was doing, but the ends justified the means, right? Viren was having second thoughts. Had this all really been his fault?

No, it wasn’t his fault. If everyone had just listened to him, they would be thanking him, no, worshipping him. It’s all because those brats decided that they’d get in his way. If he could have just seized the power he had wanted, he could have destroyed all of those filthy elves, and all of those arrogant dragons who thought they could put a leash on them: on him.

But Callum was proof that humanity could have lived without using dark magic. He and his girlfriend were living proof that peace between the Pentarchy and Xadia was possible. The magical creatures of the world deserved to live too, didn’t they? Why would he continue to reap the magic from living creatures if there was another way?

The Xadians deserved every bit of what he had planned to do. It was their fault that humans remained inferior. They were born magical, he was not. And yet, they tried to stop the little progress humanity had made. They were cut off from the potential of magic, and left with a boiling rage that had to be rectified. Elves and dragons didn’t deserve to live after what they’ve done, and he was there to deliver the justice they deserved.

Were these really Viren’s thoughts anymore?  
He retired for the night, unsure.

[~-~]

Rayla was kinda annoyed. Only a little. Callum disrupted the dragonguard’s training over that little cube thingy. He said he may have made a breakthrough, so Rayla decided to call for a break, even though they had just started. The two of them received pointed looks from the trainees, but they took the break anyway. Callum pulled out the cube and started explaining.  
“So, you know how there are six sides of a cube?” Callum asked.  
“Yeah.”  
“And there are six primal sources of magic, right?”  
“Yeah.”  
“And whenever something with a connection with one of the sources is next to the cube, that rune glows, right?”  
“Get on with it, ye nerd!”  
“My point is, maybe the solution is to have all the sides light up at the same time!”  
“Huh.” Rayla actually hadn’t thought of that, though it seemed so simple. They didn’t have a great variety of primal connections here at the storm spire. Of course, there were plenty of sky connections, and then there were two moon connections, and one sun connection. Now that she thought about it, though, she’d never seen the cube glow more than one color before. “Have you ever gotten it to glow more than one color before?”  
“No, which is why I came to you during your training, I want to see if it will work.” Callum was incredibly excited. His stepfather, King Harrow, had told him of it in a letter: his last letter, in fact. In this letter, Harrow had implied that Callum may be the one to uncover its secrets, and he looked as if he felt that he was closer than ever to doing just that. He pulled out the cube, and held it between them. The sky rune glowed a sky blue… but the moon rune didn’t glow. Disappointment streaked across his face.   
“Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting.” Rayla chimed.

[~-~]

Callum was sure that he was onto something, he just needed to reach out and grasp it. Just like when he connected with the sky arcanum. That thought immediately and violently sparked another: can I connect to multiple arcanums at once? It was unheard of… but so was a human connecting to an arcanum in the first place. Apparently, the world’s knowledge of magic needed some refreshing. If he could forge a connection with the sky arcanum simply by understanding it, what was stopping him from doing the same with the others? Perhaps this was the key he was looking for: if he had an equivalent connection to all the primal sources of magic, wouldn’t all the sides of the cube glow simultaneously?  
This was the kind of breakthrough that he would normally go to tell Rayla about, but seeing as how the first time it was a bust, he decided to try his luck elsewhere. He made his way to the Queen’s chamber.  
Queen Zubeia was fond of him for bringing back her son, and was also happy with the fact that he and Rayla were in a relationship. He guessed that she had always hoped for something of the sort to happen: for elves and humans to disregard their prejudice and see each other for what they are. It… didn’t take long for Rayla and himself to achieve that, so maybe it was something the rest of the world could start doing. He could only hope.  
Ibis escorted him into the Queen’s chamber, saying, “Your majesty, Callum has requested a meeting with you.”  
She looked away from Zym and smiled fondly at Callum. “Of course. Azymondias was starting to miss you. He could use a playdate.”  
Callum felt the urge to correct the queen: he was here to talk to her, not Zym. But, Zym was like his own son to him. After all, he, Ezran, and Rayla had hatched him, taught him, fed him, comforted him, just like parents. He started to blush at the prospect of raising a child with Rayla, but dismissed it as well as he could. “Well, maybe if I could talk to you first?”  
Zubeia was not having it. “Come now, just for a little while. We can talk later. I’d like to invite you and Rayla to have dinner with us this afternoon. Won’t you join us?”  
Callum and Rayla actually had plans for that night, and he hated to speak for other people, but he agreed to come to dinner that night. But before that, he had to worry about entertaining a little sky dragon.  
Of course, Zym wanted to play with Callum because he could harness electricity at a low amount, and could also take being hit by some. These facts combined created a game between the two: shock tag. It was like tag, but… More painful, for him specifically. Zym loved it, so Callum just kind of hid the fact that he didn’t. It was going to be a long night.


	3. Date Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum gets pressured into dinner with the dragon queen, secrets come to light, and Our favorite couple go on a date!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's nice to see that people are reading this: this website and its people are truly amazing!

“Callum! We’ve been planning tonight for weeks!” Rayla’s day continued to decline. “Tonight’s Date Night, Callum! How could you change our plans without asking me?”  
Callum looked sheepish, as if he was also mad at himself. “I’m sorry, I went to go see the queen and she invited us to dinner. I didn’t want to turn down a royal invitation. I guess it was my princely training kicking in.” His expression softened a little bit. “Do you think… we can still have date night?”  
“Yes, of course we can. Just so long as dinner doesn’t run too long.” His expression lit up. What a goofball. “We have a couple hours to get ready, do you have nice enough clothes for the occasion?” Callum looked down at his current garb and winced a little bit.   
“I think so… Would she mind if I wore katolis colors?” That’s right, she thought. Human prince, human clothes. Duh.  
“Maybe we should get you fitted for something else: I bet you would look real nice in some sky blue,” Rayla winked. “That’s her favorite color, you know.”

He looked as if he was trying to determine whether or not her statement was sarcastic, before just nodding in agreement with her plan. Rayla snorted and grabbed his hand. “Come on, I’ll get you fitted out.” She dragged him through a bunch of hallways and brought him to a room stocked with clothing of different varieties.  
“There’s a shop here?” Callum asked.  
“It’s not a shop, dumb prince. In Xadia, we don’t use money, we just share things. Everything in this room is for the taking, as long as you don’t confiscate the entire room.” Callum looked around for a bit, before turning and looking at her expectantly.   
“I don’t really know what to look for here. I never was good at picking out fancy outfits.”  
Rayla smirked and replied, “Yeah, I can tell. Come over here, I’ll take your measurements and find you something snazzy to wear.”

[~-~]

Callum flinched at that. Measurements meant taking off his clothes. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d seen him almost naked, but it was the first time since… That day.  
He trudged into the next room hesitantly as Rayla stood behind a stool, with her hands on her hips. Well, he would have had to tell her eventually, it would just be hard. The way she was looking at him, smiling warmly, with just a hint of playfulness. It had to be on his top five of her expressions.  
“Rayla, there’s something I should say before I strip my shirt off.” She tilted her head slightly, confused, like a puppy. This would be harder than he thought. It’s not that he had betrayed her trust, it’s just that she’s going to be even madder than she was earlier that he hadn’t told her. She was like that about the people she cared for. “When you fell off the Storm Spire, and I used the mage wing spell, I…” It was hard to find the right words with the concerned look she was giving him. “I-I did the spell without being taught to do it first, so I may have… Slightly… Injured myself?” Her look of concern grew as Callum realised that he wasn’t doing a great job at explaining this.  
“What do you mean, injured yourself?” Rayla was approaching him now, her words stern but not unkind.  
“It’ll be easier to show you.” He walked over to a counter that appeared to be a place to put clothes and pulled off his scarf first. “I didn’t mean to hide it from you, I just didn’t want to add to your concerns. It was a long day for all of us,” He said, as he continued pulling off his clothes. He took off his jacket, and then his undershirt, revealing his arms. Rayla gasped at what she saw: his arms were covered in rips and tears that had already healed. She approached him and began to examine them more closely, running her fingers gently up and down his arms. Where the runes had been painted onto his arms was burnt, leaving a permanent marking there.   
“Oh, Callum. I’m not mad at you, I just wish… I would have known sooner so you wouldn’t have had to suffer through this alone.” She smiled kindly at him, and he wanted to melt. By the primals, he loved her, and wanted to show it. He leaned in to place a kiss on her lips, and she gladly reciprocated. After a while, though, she pulled away, a grin on her face.  
“Save it for tonight, my prince.” And she gestured back towards the stool in the center of the room. Back to business, Callum thought.

“Queen Zubeia, can I ask you a question?” Callum finally worked up the courage to ask about the Cube of Aaravos. He wasn’t sure as to why it took effort to work up courage for a simple question, but something about the cube made him feel apprehensive to ask.  
“But of course. I am pretty old and knowledgeable after all. Ask me whatever you wish.”  
“Can you tell me about… Aaravos?”

The queen flinched, and set her utensil down on her plate. “Boy.” Her voice lacked the familiarity that it often had when she spoke to him. “Where did you hear of that name?” Callum was slightly frightened by the queen’s tone. Her reaction only served to make him even more curious.  
“My step-father left me a letter before he died, detailing the existence of a toy that he called the ‘cube of Aaravos.’ He then said that Aaravos was an archmage with dominion over every primal source. I-if you don’t want to tell me, that’s okay, I was just--” The queen interrupted him with a grunt.  
“If you truly wish to know,” the familiarity was back, “Then I will tell you. But only if I’m certain you won’t meet the same fate as he has.” Her words were vague, and Callum suddenly felt that he wasn’t going to get an incredible amount of information from this conversation. Still, he listened. “First of all, the Cube of Aaravos is no toy. LIke the name suggests, it is actually a key of sorts. A solution to an age old puzzle that he, that is, Aaravos presented to the world. If you wish to know the truth behind it, you must solve the puzzle inside the solution to the world’s greatest puzzles.” Wow. He understood even less of that than he expected to. He did catch one thing, however.  
“So if I solve the cube’s puzzle, you’ll tell me more about it?” Callum asked.  
“If you so wish, yes.” The queen looked oddly concerned, as if predicting the future that would sprout from this moment.  
“I think… I know what I need to do then!” Callum brightened. He finally found how to solve the puzzle that his father left him. “I think I need to prepare for another journey.”

About an hour later, they finished with dinner, and went on to have their date. “Give me a minute to get ready, and I’ll be out,” Callum said. He entered his room and changed out of his dressy clothes and back into his normal clothes, this time making sure to wear a sleeveless shirt under his jacket, and of course, grabbing his signature scarf, though, seeing as how she liked it so much, it might soon become Rayla’s signature scarf if he’s not careful. He left his room to find that Rayla had also, somehow, changed her clothes, too. “How did you…?” Callum wore a confused look.  
“It’s a trademark moonshadow elf secret,” She smirked. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.” Callum responded with his best Ezran’s puppy dog eyes impression. “Relax, Callum, I was just wearing these clothes underneath.” They both laughed as they began to walk, interlocking their fingers as they went. He couldn’t help but love the way their different hands allowed for their fingers to weave together seamlessly. They stepped outside just as the sun set.   
“Perfect,” Callum said, “We’re not too late!” He took off his scarf and lovingly wrapped it around Rayla’s neck, this time is was a little less stinky. He wanted to stare into her eyes for a little while longer, but he was running out of time. He had been planning this since the previous full moon. He wanted to make this perfect. He stepped forward ahead of her and removed his jacket, setting it on the railing and revealing his scarred arms once more. He extended them out to his sides, muttering the words, “Manus. Pluma. Volantus.” The burns glowed, as they still acted as the runes necessary for the spell, and his arms were swiftly replaced by wings. “Take ahold of me.”  
Rayla agreed, and wrapped her arms around his neck and chest snugly. She let her chin rest on his shoulder, and whispered into his ear, “Ready.” Callum hoped that she couldn’t feel the chills radiating through his body: the closeness, the whispering, it had him practically melting inside. He lifted his wings up, and with a strong flap, he lifted the two of them into the air, and took off. 

Callum had already planned everything about the night. Well, not everything. The dinner with Queen Zubeia had thrown a wrench in some of his plans, but they enjoyed themselves nonetheless. What they were doing now though? This was all him. Especially because of what night it was. He wanted to be connected with Rayla tonight, so he planned everything out, leaving Rayla in the dark only to surprise her when the time came.  
“Oh, Callum. It’s beautiful!” She Exclaimed. She was right, too. It really was beautiful. Callum had taken her flying before, but not like this. He’d gotten much better, so they could make it much farther with much less of a tax on him. He took her to fly over a lake, and landed on a high perch that overlooked a great deal of Xadia. Normally at night, you wouldn’t be able to see much, but in the light of the full moon, it was different. The lake below them shone and sparkled gently. The distant forests, meadows, mountains, and even the desert glittered endlessly in the moon’s light. “How did you find this place?”  
“It’s just something I found while flying around.” He deflected. Truly, he had searched for quite a long while to find something like this, all so he could share this moment with Rayla.  
This fact might as well have been written on his face, and he knew it. He leaned in closer to her, and brushed the hair out of her face. They were close enough to feel each other’s breaths, and hear each other’s heartbeats. He leaned further, and joined her in a tender kiss.   
“I love you Rayla.”  
“I love you too, Callum.”3

[~-~]

Viren looked upon the growing cacoon. Supposedly the insect which Aaravos was using to communicate with him had created it. It was glowing a variety of colors, mostly at the same time.  
“Aaravos! Can you hear me?” Viren Received no response from his ‘Little Bug Pal’ which further concreted his theory that he had been betrayed. Again. First it was the high council of Katolis. Then his own son left him, even fought against him. Finally, the being that helped him get this far has abandoned him to die in a cave. Everyone was leaving him, even though he was the only one willing to make the choices that would save humanity from extinction. At least, that’s what he told himself. He was certain that someday, his daughter would do the same. He couldn’t just sit back and let that happen. He began to plan and connive a way to deal with his daughter.

But first, there was another matter to attend to.. He looked upon the giant cocoon that swelled in size with every given day. He would get his revenge on it first.


	4. The Test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dragonguard go through their test, something goes wrong, and Callum goes super Saiyan.

The morning following their date was a good one. The two woke in each other’s arms, and Callum couldn’t help but laugh at Rayla’s bedhead. They both got out of bed, and dressed themselves slowly. Even though they were tired from the long night they had shared, they had things to do this morning. Rayla was almost finished with the dragonguard’s training. They were at an acceptable level, and she had one last test prepared for them. Callum was going to cram some last minute sky magic practice before they left for their journey. Callum had discussed it with Rayla as they neared the end of their flight and prepared to finish the night. While they did love the Storm Spire, they had much to do and see, especially with the news that the Cube of Aaravos could be solved.

“We’re going to miss you, Rayla.” Shalle said. They were finished with sparring, and Rayla gave them a break before calling them back together for the announcement.  
“I’ll miss you guys too,” Rayla repolied. She really would. These had been her first students, and while they didn’t need much guidance, she had given it all the same. “But don’t think you’re out of the woods yet. I’ve got one final test prepared. Tonight, you guys will be guarding the Dragon Queen and Prince from an unknown threat. You will start in an hour and a half, and will continue until this ‘threat’ is dealt with, or until I call it off.” The group of elves looked kind of excited at the prospect, with just a tinge of worry. To be honest, Rayla was also nervous: she wasn’t sure how this would play out, and she could only hope that they all passed. Otherwise, she and Callum would have to remain at the Spire a while longer. 

For her test to work, she was going to have Callum pose as a villain alongside her, and they would ‘do battle’ with her students. If they were able to incapacitate the threat to the Dragon Queen and Prince, they would pass. If Rayla or Callum were to hit any of the royal family, they would fail. This would be an interesting night indeed.

[~-~]

Callum was the best student of magic that Ibis had ever seen. He had a photographic memory, and a talent for drawing runes exactly and perfectly. He could show callum a spell once, and he would retain the memory immediately It was a gift that he’d never seen before. In fact, he had learned pretty much all that Ibis could teach him. He was a bonified sky mage. However, he hadn’t really had a chance to use many of the spells he’d learned, so tonight would also test his ability as a mage, Ibis thought.

“Now remember, the key to stealth is to avoid your opponents senses.” Rayla had gone over the plan with Callum a few times. The idea was to sneak attack the dragonguard. It wasn’t Callum’s favorite thing, but it was her test, and he’d do whatever he could to make it the best it could be.  
“I’ve got it, Rayla, plan ‘sneaky zappy slashy’ has been dedicated to memory.” Rayla snorted and smacked the back of his head playfully. The two adorned their cloaks and moved to begin the test.

[~-~]

“Claudia, can you come here for a second?” Viren called. As if in a rush, Claudia poked her head around the corner.  
“What’s up?”  
Viren’s plan consisted of a couple steps. He would trick Claudia into attacking Aaravos’s cocoon, and then kill them both. There was absolutely nothing that could go wrong.

[~-~]

Callum was awful at stealth. He knew it, Rayla new it, and the Dragonguard knew it. However, if he and Rayla were to go on this trip, they all needed to be sure that they could fulfill their responsibilities. Right now, Zubeia and Zym were finishing up their dinner. That’s the perfect time to strike. He looked over to where Rayla was hiding, and made a bunch of indistinguishable hand gestures in an attempt to communicate. Somehow knowing what he meant, Rayla rolled her eyes and began to move, her blades (now dull) at the ready. Callum readied himself to draw a string of runes. He wouldn’t use any incredibly dangerous spells: that would be counterproductive. However, he’s learned to layer runes and words together to create new spells. He stepped out, behind where the group of dragonguard was standing, about to enact a plan of his own. The three were standing together watching the dragons fervently. They were also standing next to a balcony, with a small drop to a lower floor beyond it. If he wanted to cast this spell at the speed he needed, he would need to ready both of his hands, for he needed to draw two runes. His fingertips glowed, and he sprung into action, his hands moving at an incredible pace. Just in time for his opponents to realise he was there, he said, “Aspiro Magna!” As he inhaled, they only had enough time to let their eyes widen and try to avoid the spell. Callum exhaled, and the force of the spell nearly knocked him off his feet. The new dragonguard were blown away and off the ledge. It was then that the skywing elf drew her blades and spread her wings, ready to retaliate. She flew in Callum’s direction, her blades primed and ready to strike, but Callum wasn’t budging. He simply took a step back, and crossed his arms. Before Shalle could figure out why, she had gotten back inside the Spire, mere feet away from her target. However, Rayla was hiding around the corner, and tackled her away.   
“Go Callum, get the Prince!” She said, while struggling to handle her student.  
Callum stood there for a second, having a bit too much fun with this. He held his hands above his head, and laughed to the sky. “Mwahaha! Now I, the great and evil Callum, shall get the Dragon Prince!” The two elves were dumbfounded by his awful performance, but continued to fight anyway. While this happened, Zubeia, who had been briefed about the test, was bringing Zym to the top of the Spire, where they could take off and flee if need be. Callum knew this, and started to make his way up the Spire himself. While he could very easily use the mage wing spell to get up there quickly, he wanted to give the dragonguard a chance at passing the test.

“Hold it right there!” A voice sounded to his right. Villard had somehow made it to the stairs at the same time he did. Well, it made sense. The previous night was the full moon: of course he would be more powerful. Callum readied himself to cast another spell. If there was one thing he’d learned by traveling with Rayla, it was that a fight with a moonshadow elf was not to be taken lightly.   
Just as Villard drew his bow, Callum began to draw, and uttered, “Scutum Caeli!” Scutum was a spell that allowed the caster to form the air around them: it was made to be used as a complimentary rune. What Callum needed most in that moment was to defend himself, so he paired it with caeli, which caused his spell to mold a sort of sheild to block the incoming arrows. When he fired his arrows, he saw them bounce off, and decided to charge in. Callum knew that he would have no chance against a moonshadow elf in close combat, so he instead elected to run. When he turned his back on Villard, however, his eyes met the familiar face of his childhood friend-turned enemy, Claudia. Immediately he hopped back and removed his hood, calling to the nearby Dragonguard: “Villard, the test is over for now, draw your bow and be at the ready. This is a real enemy.” In his hastiness, he didn’t see that Claudia was actually badly wounded.

“Callum, you have to listen to me, my father is here.” Claudia could only get those words out before collapsing; Callum was barely able to catch her.  
“This is bad. This is really, really bad.” Callum picked Claudia up off the floor: he was much stronger than he looked. “Villard, I’m going to go call off the test you need to go make sure Zubeia and Zym are okay. If you see anyone but me, Rayla, or your teammates, attack on sight. If we’re really dealing with who I think we are, this could get ugly.” Villard simply nodded, and took off towards the top of the Spire.  
Callum couldn’t help but notice Claudia’s hair as he set her down in a bed. Half of her hair had become bleach white, meaning that she had used a powerful dark magic spell. Had she…? No. It was too early to be pointing fingers, he should figure out the situation first. He left Caludia’s side, and took off to go find Rayla. Hopefully, the two of them could put an end to this before anyone got hurt. He ran to the spot where he had left Rayla and Shalle, and saw that Saraal had climbed back up the balcony and joined Shalle in the fight.  
“Rayla!” She looked away from their battle to see him wheezing from all the sprinting he’d just done. “You need to stop the test. It’s Viren.” Her eyes widened, and she hardened her face, before calling off the test for the other two elves. “I already sent Villard up to guard Zym and Zubeia.” He looked at the remaining Dragonguard, “You guys should do the same.” The group started moving towards the stairs to the pinnacle of the Spire.  
“How do you know he’s really here? There’s no way he could have survived the fall,” Rayla said. Rayla looked kind of terrified. He didn’t blame her. Not long ago, she had fought him and couldn’t do anything. But it was okay, because now Callum was much stronger. They could fight Viren together.  
“Claudia showed up and said that he was before fainting.”  
“Oh right, like she’s never lied to us before.”  
“I know what you’re thinking. I don’t trust her either, but the way she said it, she sounded like she was really scared. Like she came here to warn us.”  
Rayla let out a sigh. “Okay.” The dragonguard began to ascend the storm spire, while Calluma and Rayla decided that they would search the lower levels first. About twenty minutes later, nothing came up, and the two of them were getting exceedingly worried. They stepped outside, and Callum could feel in the very air around him that there was something wrong. Without a word, he stepped forward and threw off his jacket. “Manus, Pluma, Volantus!” He turned back towards Rayla, and said, “Let’s go.”

It took less than twenty seconds to reach the peak of the Spire. When they did, they landed on the very top, eyeing their enemy. It was him. Viren was really here, though it didn’t look like him. He’d taken the form he takes when abusing dark magic. There was something else there, too. It was a gargantuan butterfly, trying to escape from Viren. For some reason, he climbed up here, but ignored the dragons. The dragonguard had been pretty battered. It looked as if they’d been fighting him. First Viren tried to kill Zym, and caused irreparable trauma for both Callum and Rayla and now he had the audacity to show back up there again, attacking his friends and trying to kill this creature? Suddenly, something within Callum snapped. He was more angry than any sky mage had a right to be while on top of the storm spire. “Rayla.” He felt incredible power emanating from his body, as if electricity was coursing through his veins. “Get everyone else off the spire. I’ve got this.” Rayla was about to object, before she looked at him. She’d never, ever seen him like this. Hell, he’d never seen himself like this. Callum’s hair was standing on edge, and literal sparks were starting to spring from his body. “I know you don’t want to leave me, but… please.”  
Rayla didn’t have much time to think, but she trusted Callum. She dashed around to gather up the remaining dragonguard and escorted the dragons down the spire.  
“Don’t interfere, boy. This does not concern you.” Viren scolded, before turning back towards the creature before him.  
“Viren. I’ll give you one chance to surrender before I end this.”  
Viren just laughed. “You? You’re just a spoiled, entitled brat who’s good at nothing. Leave me.”  
It took all of Callum’s power to control himself. He would not fall for Viren’s mind games. He just needed to put an end to his actions, and he knew just the spell. He’d never cast it before, but he wanted to try it. The perfect target stood in front of him.

Callum readied himself. All of the spells he’d previously cast had only layered two runes: this one layered four. He took a deep breath, and let the sky magic flow through him. His eyes shot open. His hands moved faster than they had ever moved before, and before Viren could even react, Callum had drawn a quadra-layered rune in front of him. He spoke: “Aspiro immensis avidos satiate!” He inhaled. When he exhaled, the force of an entire blizzard shook the ground, leaving only ice in its wake. Callum fell to his knees, panting. “I’m… a god… damn… mage.”

[~-~]

“Amazing,” Aaravos said to himself. “This boy… he reminds me of myself. Interesting.” The butterfly fluttered off, as Aaravos thought on what had just transpired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to clarify a couple things:  
> 1\. I really hope this is okay, but it's kinda my headcanon now that dragons can shift their forms between hybrid, human, elf, and dragon, as shown in "A Breath of Hope." That's what I envision as I'm writing about Zym and Zubeia, because it seems like there wouldn't be much room for a giant archdragon to roam around the spire if not. If you're in the mood for a good read, you should absolutely check it out. It deserves all the spotlight it can get.  
> 2\. What Callum did wasn't a transformation. I'll explain it later, but please keep in mind that this sort of power isn't something that is going to always be available.
> 
> I can't wait to keep writing this story! I'm not sure exactly where it's going from here, but the real adventure starts now!


	5. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum recovers, Ibis explains some things, and goodbyes are shared.

Rayla was beyond shocked. Before her was a giant glacier, enveloping most of the nexus and then some. Viren was completely encased inside. “Callum, are you okay?” She ran over to him, to make sure. “I felt the ground shaking, and when I got up here I saw all this ice, and I didn’t know what happened.  
Callum flopped down, his back to the ground. He let his arms spread to his sides and he stretched out. “Yeah, just… tired. Who new that creating a blizzard could take so much out of you?” Rayla flinched. It was Callum… who did this? Rayla made a mental note not to get him angry. It was worrying, though. She hoped Callum hadn’t overexerted himself.   
“Dumb human, you had me worried.” The others eventually came up the stairs. It was humorous, really. Each one of the dragonguard came up the stairs and gaped at the feat of magic in front of them.   
Villard was more astonished than the others, he muttered, “He… went easy on me.” Saraal gave him a punch on the shoulder for that.  
“No shit."  
Rayla decided to take the opportunity to make an announcement.  
“Although the test was called off, you guys defended Queen Zubeia and Prince Azymondias from an unknown threat, and for that, I’d say that you pass,” She smirked at them. “DragonGuard.”  
The Three of them broke out in smiles, though Villard was slightly more subtle.  
“There is one other matter to decide.” The queen spoke up. “The dragonguard needs a captain. This person will bear more responsibility and will lead the team into the future.”  
The group looked at each other, still smiling, and two of the three immediately made a decision.  
“We think that Villard should be the captain.” Shalle said. “He fought that Viren guy for longer than we did, and saved our lives.” Villard looked even more surprised than he did when he saw Callum’s magic.   
“But--”  
“No buts,” Saraal interrupted. “We both think you deserve it, if you’re willing.”  
“I'll... do my best,” Villard concluded.

[~-~]

“That was too reckless, Callum!” Ibis protested. “I don’t know how you pulled it off, but that could have killed you if you weren’t in the sky nexus!”  
“But it didn’t… and I was. When I was up there, I just got so mad, and it felt like I had the power of the whole sky in me.”  
“You should have seen it,” Shalle added. “He was literally shooting lightning out of his body.”  
Ibis stopped for a second. “Wait, so this happened because you got really mad?”  
“Yes?”   
“Hmm.” Ibis seemed to ponder this for a while. Now that Callum thought about it, why did that happen? He hadn't really questioned it before, but it didn’t make much sense. “I think it may be due to the unique nature of your connection to the sky arcanum. You went through mental turmoil to forge your connection, therefore it’s possible that it’s not just an understanding, but something more.” Callum didn’t necessarily understand, and he doubted that Ibis did either.  
“So… my magic is connected to my mental state?”  
“It would appear as so, though with just one example, it’s not really something we can say for sure.”

The more Callum learned about magic, the more he knew that he didn’t know much about magic. Still, learning had been, and still was, his dream. Now that the new Dragonguard was officially established, he and Rayla could finally leave off for their journey, though it would be going in an unexpected direction. Since it would be too dangerous to imprison Viren at the storm spire, and he was still technically a Katolan citizen, Callum and Rayla were asked to deliver him back to Katolis. It wasn’t all bad: Callum had been wanting to visit Ezran ever since he first left the Storm Spire. It’s just that he wished it could have been under nicer circumstances. Plus, all romantic tension would be replaced with… normal tension: the worst kind. Still, it would be nice to go home and see familiar faces once again… All except one.   
Besides, they couldn’t quite leave yet. While Callum’s grandiose exhibition of magic was really cool, they still had to clean it up. They were going to leave Viren in the ice, as that was the whole point, but they had to melt the rest, which was arguably more tiring than actually casting the spell. While he would like more help, he didn’t think that letting Claudia help was a great idea. Childhood friendship aside, she was a traitor and needed to be brought to justice, whatever Ez’s justice would be. Callum wasn’t worried, though. Besides being told to give up dark magic, (Ezran made it illegal) and maybe being told to see a therapist, he couldn’t think of anything else his brother would use to punish her. Community service? Yeah, probably community service.  
It took another week, but preparations were finally done.

“So here’s the plan.” Callum loved his plans. “Ice-Viren and Claudia will be carried by dragons. You, my love, will be carried by yours truly. Questions?”  
“Yeah, I’ve got one. Can you stop with the sappiness? There’s only so much sickly sweet I can take in a day.” Rayla always hated pet names, but that just made Callum want to make them stick.  
“But Rayla, that’s part of the fun!” Their banter was interrupted by Queen Zubeia clearing her throat. “Right, right. This trip won’t be long, since we’re leaving early in the morning. If we don’t stop too often, we can make it there in no time! Well, actually it will be some time, but I think we all get it.” He smiled his dorkiest smile and moved to say goodbye to the people they were leaving. The Dragonguard had become as close as family while they were here, so they all earned a hug. “I’m gonna miss seeing Rayla kick your butts while I’m gone.”  
“It’s gonna be awfully quiet around here without Ibis giving you an earful every day,” Saraal retorted. Callum shrugged. Of course, Zym got a hug: he was Callum’s favorite dragon. As he approached Queen Zubeia, he became apprehensive about disrespecting her, so he offered his hand to shake. She slapped it away, only to look him in the eye and wrap him in a hug that would put his Aunt Amaya to shame.   
“I’ll miss you all, and we’ll be sure to visit sometimes!” Callum exclaimed to the group. He was sad to leave, but he was more excited than he was sad. He would finally get to see Ezran again! He stepped away from the group and gave Rayla his extra articles of clothing: this had become their routine when they went out to fly. “Manus, Pluma, Volantus!” Wings spread from his arms, and he motioned for Rayla to join him. She wrapped her arms around him, and they took off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short-ish chapter, I'm mainly using it as a transition. The next one will be interesting!


	6. Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum and Rayla arrive in Katolis! There's a misunderstanding, and Ezran makes some hard decisions.

“Callum, do you think I’ll be welcome?” Rayla leaned forward and asked.  
“Of course, I’m sure if Ezran knew we were coming, he would have prepared fanfare and a feast.” Callum was joking, but it was probably true.  
“But I’m an elf. I’m also an assassin that was sent to kill the king and his son.”  
“Sure, but no one needs to know about that unless it explicitly comess up.” He really hoped it didn’t come up. Katolis had loved King Harrow as a whole. They didn’t get over his death easily, nor did Callum think that they would appreciate a visit from one of his assassins, even if she didn’t have much involvement in the actual act of killing Harrow. Now that he thought about it, if he spun the tale in the right way, the people may actually forget the past and let her be herself.  
“Do you think… We’ll be welcome? I know Ezran doesn’t mind, but… A human and an elf being together isn’t something people are ready to accept.  
“Well,” Callum hardened. “They had better get ready, because I’m the prince, and no one but the King can really complain about my choices.”  
“I guess that won’t really be much of a problem, huh?”  
“Nah, I think Ez actually likes the idea way more than he lets on. What’s better than your two best friends in a relationship?”

The two continued to fly in relative silence.

[~-~]

Ezran’s day was not going well. First of all, the baker didn’t make jelly tarts today. He has his creative freedom, but who would make anything other than jelly tarts? Secondly, the received letters from all the rest of the pentarchy complaining about his choice to invite elves to the upcoming festival. Every year, they held a winter festival in Katolis. All of the Pentarchy was to be invited, and this acted as a sign of unity with the other kingdoms. Ezran was doing his absolute best to ease tensions that still lingered after the war, and this was an excellent way to do it. It was just really unfortunate that the other human kingdoms held on to their prejudice, even after the war ended. To top it all off, there was a fight in the plaza! Apparently someone was thieving from anyone who he could. When he got caught, he was brought to Ezran for a punishment, and he just told the thief to return anything that he stole, and to work in the castle for the day. Almost all of his advisers objected his idea, but he was serious. He said, “If you enjoy the job here, let me know by the end of the day, and you can join the staff for as long as you want.” The man was young, and Ezran knew that most people stole not out of greed, but by necessity.  
The thief said, “B-but I’ve got to get back to my daughters, your majesty. Please, don’t make me stay here.”  
Ezran thought about it, and said, “I’ll send Soren as an escort: you can go get your daughters and they can play in the castle while you work. Does that sound okay?” The man looked down, and nodded.

Ezran didn’t understand why everybody was so hell-bent on awful punishments and making sure not to forget people’s past mistakes. It was kind of redundant. If someone who made a mistake regretted it, and wanted to make up for it, then they should be forgiven, and given a chance to do just that. Not everyone thought that way, though. That was one thing Ezran hoped to change while he was king.  
It was lunch now, and the baker had finally made some jelly tarts, just for him. He grabbed the tray and thanked him for his hard work. Ezran wanted to go for a walk through the courtyard, but one of the guards insisted on coming with him. “Well, if you’re coming along anyway, could you hold on to my jelly tarts?” The guard looked confused, but accepted anyway. They started their walk, with Ezran grabbing another jelly tart every couple of minutes. He was in the middle of explaining why he was stressed about the festival when he started to hear… Flapping? No, that wasn’t any ordinary wing flapping, those were dragons! Ezran started running to where he figured they’d land; the central courtyard lead to the main entrance to the castle, and had a wide open space which was perfect for a landing. The guard was having a surprising amount of trouble keeping up with him, after all he was pretty short. Ezran made it to the central courtyard, and yelled, “Pyrra! Down here! You can land here!” The dragon looked down, and did so, motioning for her partner to follow. The guard behind Ezran gasped, and dropped the jelly tarts. He took a couple steps back, and ran. 

Pyrra landed before him and dropped her cargo, moving to nuzzle the young king. “Was that a guard that just ran from me? I think you may have some loyalty problems, your majesty.”  
Ezran giggled and hugged Pyrra’s snout back. “I mean, you are pretty scary.” Ezran took a step back. “What brings you guys to Katolis?”  
Pyrra blows a little fire out of her nose, “We’re delivering a few of your citizens back to you. Your brother can explain the rest.”  
Ezran brightens up even more: “Callum’s here?” Just as he said it, he heard another pair of wings, smaller, coming up on the group. Ezran looked up and saw that it was, indeed, Callum, and Rayla too! Callum swooped down and landed gracefully as Rayla stepped out from behind him. Rayla was wearing his jacket and scarf, and Ezran couldn’t help but laugh. They were such a couple. Ezran ran up to his brother and friend as Callum dispelled the mage wings. Seeing his arms stopped him in his tracks, and he had to ask. “What happened to your arms? Are you okay?”  
Callum stopped posing dramatically as he realised he was wearing a sleeveless shirt, so his scars were totally exposed. “Yeah, I’ll tell you later, first--” He interrupted himself to hug Ezran. “Hey, 'King Ezran,' I missed you.”  
“Yeah, you too, 'Prince Callum.'” The two laughed as Rayla rolled her eyes, taking off Callum’s jacket and handing it to him.  
“Thanks, Moonlight.” Rayla looked like she wanted to object, but she didn’t. “Really? Is that one in the clear?” Callum grinned.  
“Just that one,” Rayla muttered, looking away. Ezran chuckled. He missed them so much.  
“Sorry to interrupt you two being gross, but Pyrra said you came here to… deliver some citizens?” Ezran made a confused face.  
“Oh. Yeah, I forgot about this part. Sorry Ez, I know we’re visiting, but you’re gonna have to be a king for a little bit.” He walked over to the carriage the dragons were carrying and opened the door. Claudia stepped out, her hands bound.  
“Hey, Ezran.” She said sadly.  
“Oh.” Ezran was a little put out. Claudia was his friend, but she was a traitor to Katolis.  
“That’s… Not all.” As Callum was getting ready to open the other door, a horn sounded, signifying that a group of soldiers were ready for battle. Uh oh. It would seem that the guard had alerted the army that there were dragons in the courtyard. They were quickly surrounded, and they were moving in, too loud to listen to Ezran’s pleas.  
Callum tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Cover your ears, Ez.” Ezran was confused, but complied. Callum drew a rune at a lightning quick speed, and raised his hand into the air. He shouted, “Tonitrua!” The loudest sound that Ezran had ever heard followed, and it stopped the soldiers in their tracks. Callum stood tall, and shouted, “Stop for a second, and listen to your king!”  
Ezran took this as a que and stepped forward, his ears still ringing a little. “These dragons are my personal friends. They came here on a diplomatic mission. Stand down.”  
The soldiers obeyed, and sheathed their weapons.  
Ezran’s day was not improving.

[~-~]

“Callum, when did you get so cool?” The group was walking to the throne room. In order to make any serious declarations, the king typically needed to be in the presence of the council. That included prosecutions.  
“Hey, I like to think that I’ve always been cool.”  
“Yeah, you were a cool big brother, but now you’re an awesome magic user!”  
“Oh, that’s not the best he can do,” Rayla added. “You should have seen him when he captured Viren. He froze over the entire sky nexus.” Ezran shrunk a little at the mention of Viren. Callum could understand: his brother was never super great at dealing out punishments, especially when they were truly in order.  
They were silent for a little while before reaching the throne room. The guards opened the door to reveal the council in the room waiting for Ezran. He walked in, but when Callum and Rayla tried to follow, the guards blocked them off. “Ugh,” Ezran said. “I’d like to specifically request them to come in with me.” At his request the guards lowered their spears. Ezran took his place on his throne, and Callum and Rayla stood by his side. The guards brought in Claudia next, who just stared at the ground. Ezran stood and said, “As you probably know, the practice of Dark Magic is now illegal in Katolis. As such, you will also be expected to stop using it.” Claudia’s eyes widened, but she nodded. “Furthermore, you will have to help work around the town every day for a year. Soren has decided to be by you and help you out.” Claudia finally looked up at the mention of her brother, who was standing next to Ezran.  
“Hey, Clauds.”  
Ezran cleared his throat, and said, “Okay, you can take the chains off of her now.” The guard who brought her in did just that, and the cuffs fell to the ground with a clank. Ezran walked up to her and gave her a hug. “Welcome back, Claudia. I hope you’re really staying for good this time.” Claudia stood there, surprised, before succumbing to Ezran’s trademark ‘kill them with kindness’ strategy. She fell to her knees, crying, and returned the hug. When she stood back up, Soren was by her side, waiting. They also hugged, before exiting the room. Before they left, Soren turned back, and mouthed, “Thank you.”  
Viren was next. Ezran sighed as his ice block was rolled in, so Callum put his hand on his shoulder. They looked at him in the ice, his face still wearing that arrogant expression, which had no time to mold into fear. “You can’t save them all, Ez,” Callum comforted. As much as he hated Viren for what he’d done, he was still their father’s best friend and advisor.  
“Will the ice melt on its own?” Ezran looked at Callum.  
“No. Unless it’s put somewhere hot, or it’s melted magically, Viren will remain frozen forever.”  
Ezran sighed again. It’s not something Callum liked to see from his brother, but he understood, and felt a pang of guilt. If only Ez didn’t have to shoulder all this responsibility at such a young age. “Hold him in the dungeon for now. We’ll figure out what to do with him once we aren’t so busy.” Ezran’s brow was furrowed, and he let out another big sigh before turning and smiling at Callum. “I’m glad that’s over for now. How long are you guys staying in Katolis?”

Callum turned to Rayla, who just shrugged. “I’m not sure, we didn’t talk about that before coming here. We don’t want to stay for too long, because we’ve actually been planning to go on another adventure soon.”  
“An adventure? Where? Why?” Ezran had the sparkle back in his eye.  
“Callum decided that being a cool sky mage wasn’t enough, so now he’s gonna learn the other arcanums. I’m just along for the ride,” Rayla smirked.  
“Is that even possible?”  
“Well, we used to think it was impossible for humans to do primal magic, and now look at me.” Callum was certain that he could pull it off. After all, it was the only way to solve the cube of Aaravos.  
Callum and Rayla decided to finish Ezran’s walk with him, even though Callum was already exhausted. “You guys came at a really good time! The Winter Festival is coming up. You guys should stay and see it!” Callum forgot all about the winter festival. It had been a pretty warm winter up to that point, so the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind.  
“If the weather keeps being warm like this, it won’t be much of a ‘winter’ festival, will it?”  
“Actually,” Ezran said, “ That’s one of the tings I was worried about. This is the first time elves have been invited to the festival, so I want to leave a good first impression. I know you guys are here to visit, but do you think that… Maybe you could help set it up?”  
“Well, what do you think, Rayla? You’ve been kind of quiet.”  
“The last time I was here, it wasn’t on the best of terms.” She wasn’t wrong. Callum could understand why it was she felt nervous. “But I’d be more than happy to help, Ez.”  
“That’s wonderful!” Ezran looked really happy now. “You guys won’t regret it. This is gonna be the best Winter festival ever!”  
Callum looked at Rayla and smiled. Of course it would be the best. He had someone to share it with.


	7. Happy Mother's Day!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Mini Tales from Ba Sing Se to celebrate mother's Day!

“Rayla, will you be with me forever? Gah, no, that’s stupid. She’ll hate that.” Callum stood in his and Rayla’s bedroom in front of the mirror, with one knee on the ground. Rayla was in town. For some reason, she asked to go alone, or, at least without Callum. He wasn’t sure why, but he was going to respect that she wanted a little time to herself. He stood up, and moved the pretend-ring back to his pocket. Proposing had been something he wanted to do for a while, but he didn’t know if there would be a cultural difference that would be offensive, or if he was gonna mess up, or whatever other reasons he could feed himself. Truly, he was just scared, both of rejection, and of also ruining their relationship. He heard a knock on the door. “Callum, you in there? It’s Ezran.” Callum panicked a little, hoping he hadn’t heard what just happened.  
“Uh, yeah? I’ll be there in just a second.” He grabbed his jacket, and reached for his scarf, before realising that Rayla had taken it out with her. Seriously, one day that scarf would be hers. Callum opened the door to a grinning Ezran.  
“So, you about ready to freeze a lake?” Callum blinked.  
“What?”  
“Well, the festival starts tomorrow, and even though it’s getting closer, there’s still not enough time for the lake to freeze. We can’t have a winter festival without a frozen lake!”  
“That’s gonna take all day.” Callum said he would help his brother set up the festival, but he had expected, like, stacking boxes, helping people settle in, mediating disagreements. Not freezing an entire lake. But, whatever, Ezran is giving him the puppy dog eyes. “Oh, fine. I’m getting some of your jelly tarts tonight, though.”  
Ezran beamed. “I’m really glad!” His expression turned sour. “But you’ll stay away from my jelly tarts if you know what’s good for you.” 

Ezran reminded Callum of their mom more and more every day. She was just like that: if you touched her jelly tarts, she would make sure you regretted it. The only thing she cared more about than sweets were her husband and children. Callum remembered the time he got his sketchbook. It had been a rough day for Callum. He’d gone from street rat to prince, and couldn’t handle the change. He was awful at sword practice, he was awful at riding horses, he was awful at being a prince. He was too intimidated to really interact with his stepfather: he was the king, how could he? He couldn’t even really talk to his mom anymore: she was too busy being a queen. It was around that time that his mom saw the state he was in: demoralised and sad. She knew that he was having a hard time talking to Harrow, so she talked to him, coaxed him into giving him a gift. When Harrow gave him a sketchbook, his mom said, “Sometimes, the way the world looks is a little hard to take. If you feel overwhelmed by everything, sometimes if you focus on one thing, and reflect what you see on paper, you can get through whatever it is you’re dealing with.” Callum’s mom had been so wise and beautiful, he missed her so much.

“Callum?” Ezran looked at him. It wasn’t until now that he realised he was crying to himself.  
“Yeah, Ez. I’m alright.” He wiped at his eyes. “Can we make a stop somewhere before we go to the lake? I want… to go see mom.”  
“Sure, Callum.”

[~-~]  
Despite what she told Callum, Rayla wasn’t in town because she wanted time away from him, in fact it was quite the opposite. She wanted nothing more than to be with Callum at that moment, and that was scary. None of those humans liked her being near him. Was she making things hard for him? She shook her head, and drove those thoughts away. Evil thoughts, as Callum called them. If he were there he would have said something sappy. A part of her hated it, but the larger portion loved it more than she was willing to admit. Ever.

The real reason she was in town by herself was to fuel her fantasies for a while longer. It’s not something that would, or could, ever happen, but she just wanted to look at the rings. It was traditional for elves to wear horn cuffs, or a necklace, but she thought it might be better for Callum if they were to both get rings. She entered a jewelry shop and looked around for a little bit.  
“Can I help you, lass?” A man stepped out from behind the corner.  
“Oh, I’m just looking.” She lied, she actually had the perfect rings in mind. She wanted to give Callum a ring with a silver band, and a small aquamarine jewel, and she wanted a similar ring with a moon opal, just like the one her mother gave her father.

It was a story that they told her often: storytime was one of the few memories she had with her parents. She remembered this particular story very well; she hoped to have one of her own someday. Her Mom, Tiadrin, had loved her dad, Lain, for years. Ever since high school. It was a full moon when she proposed to him. The two of them had gone out for a moonberry surprise. Little did Lain know what there was an extra special surprise awaiting him. Tiadrin had actually hidden the ring inside his dessert: it wasn’t the wisest choice, though. Her husband-to-be nearly swallowed the ring! Rayla swelled at the thought of her parents tucking her into bed every night, telling her stories. Even though she went through much of her life, telling herself that she hated them, she just missed them.  
“Uh, Lady? If you’re gonna go spacing out in the middle of my store, would you mind buying something?”  
Rayla snapped out of her recollections. “Right, sorry. I don’t know if I can even use this ring. People wouldn’t get it.” She didn’t know why she was saying this to a total stranger, but she was.  
“Who cares?”  
“What?”  
“Who cares if people don’t get it? It really should only be up to one person to care, right?” Rayla thought about this.  
“Hey, your right!”  
“So, you’re gonna buy a ring after all?”  
“Sorry, you don’t have what I was looking for. Thanks anyway! ”She quickly exited the shop, armed with newfound conviction.  
The Jeweler sighed. “Being old and wise really doesn’t pay too well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks Moms, for always being there.


	8. The Festival~Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum and Rayla enjoy the Festival!

It made a lot of sense for Ezran to be so adamant on the frozen lake. After all, ice skating was something the people of Katolis did every winter that got cold enough. Callum had worked pretty hard on making it look good. Sure, he could have just frozen the lake, but this was important. This festival would be the first diplomatic action which would involve the entire Pentarchy as well as multiple elven settlements. This wasn’t just any festival, therefore, Callum couldn’t just freeze the lake. By the time he was finished, it was quite the spectacle. He made sure to freeze the water a good few feet down, to make sure no one could fall through. Then, he started decorations. The icy variation of the Aspiro spell, Aspiro Frigus, was quite handy: just like the normal version, it could either be a broad radius in front of the caster, or a thin stream could be controlled, leaving behind ice in its wake. Callum used it to leave intricate designs around the edges of the lake.  
Ezran returned just in time to see Callum finish his job. “Wow. I know I said ‘freeze the lake,’ but I didn’t expect you to make a winter wonderland.” Ezran looked happy, which was good.  
“Did I do a good job? Think the other kingdom leaders will like it?”  
“Callum, if they don’t like this, then I don’t know if they like anything.” Ezran gave him a pat on the back. “Let’s head back to the castle: the festival starts tomorrow. We could use the rest.”  
“Yeah, and I’ve got some jelly tarts to commandeer.” Ezran scowled at him; Callum just grinned.

[~-~]

“Callum, I know we’ve only known each other for a little while, but I think we’ve gotten to know each other pretty well, and I want to ask you… Will you M--” Rayla hears a knock on the door, and lets out a yelp that she hopes wasn’t as loud as she thought it was.  
“Rayla, are you in there? The festival’s starting, we should go and check it out!” It was Callum. Rayla let out a relieved sigh. He didn’t sound like he heard anything. While it was something she wanted to do, she didn’t know when she would work up the courage to actually propose to Callum. Wait, since when did she have to work up the courage for anything? She’d just go over, open the door, and… She opened the door to see Callum waiting patiently for her, wearing that dorky grin of his. Maybe she’d wait a little bit longer.  
The two of them walked out of the castle: Ezran would have accompanied them, but he had lessons to take before the other kingdom’s royalty was to arrive. It seemed that not even the king could get out of school. Before them was the main road, but it had been completely transformed since they’d gotten there. The street was lined with little stalls, and crowded with people visiting them. There were venders from all over the pentarchy, and even some from Xadia, though they didn’t seem to be getting much business. Rayla thought she might change that, and took Callum’s hand. She looked back at him as she did, and watched his face go from surprise to glee as they took off to go enjoy the festival.

The first stall they arrived in belonged to a Sunfire elf woman who was exhibiting her weapons.  
“Hey, you two look like you could use some good weaponry! Care to see what I’ve got?” She had a vast array of axes, daggers, bows, and swords; one of which was hanging on the far back wall, hidden in its sheath.  
“What’s that back there?” Callum asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.  
She looked to the back of her shop and grinned. “Oh, you have a good eye, sir.” She pulled the sword off its mount and brought it to the front of the stall. “This here’s a sword forged from a very special material. Not even the smith forging with it knew what it was. A meteorite fell near their a sword master’s house, and an apprentice decided to make a sword from it. They gave it to me to sell here as a sign of goodwill between our races.” She unsheathed the sword to reveal its jet black blade.  
Callum reached out to touch it: “This is… a Space Sword?” He picked it up, eying the blade with wonder.  
Rayla could see where this was going, and hooked her arm with his. “Thank you, but we should really be going to check out the other stalls.” She started to walk away, Callum being dragged behind.  
“But Rayyyla, she has a space sword!” Callum whined.  
Rayla rolled her eyes, “You can’t even use a sword: you just wanted to look at it for hours, and I’m not sitting here for hours while you nerd out.” Callum gave her a sad look, but nodded. “Relax, Callum, there’s bound to be more cool stuff.” He brightened a bit, and matched her pace.

The next stall was run by a human man. “Hey, human customers only. Beat it, elf.” The man threw her a look befitting of an insect and waved her away.  
She was perfectly fine with not giving the horrid man business, and was getting ready to shrug it off and leave when she felt that Callum wasn’t moving with her.  
“Excuse me, sir. I think that I’ve misheard you.” Callum’s tone was subty seething. It was similar to when he had confronted Viren. Rayla sensed that he had a similar aura around him, as well. It wasn’t anywhere near as powerful as before, but… It still wasn’t a good sign. “I think you said that my friend here wasn’t welcome at your shop.” Lightning subtly crackled at his fingertips.  
“Callum, it’s fine, your making a scene!” He looked around. People were staring at him, some looking afraid and others looking curious. Callum seemed to calm himself a little at the sight of this.  
“That’s damn right, now get outta here before I make you, shrimp.” The man spat. Callum was calm now, but he had a twinkle in his eye; it didn’t look like he was about to give up.

“Oh, so you mean that the Prince of Katolis is unwelcome at your-” He looked at the stall, seeming to judge its quality. He pinched a bit of grime off the side and rubbed it between his fingertips. “-quaint establishment?” The man’s face paled.  
“Uh,--”  
“Hey guys, how’s it going?” Gasps rang up and Ezran’s appearance.  
“Well, I was just asking this man why Rayla wasn’t allowed at his stall.”  
Ezran looked at the man, who was now figuratively, and probably literally, crapping himself.  
“W-well, y-your majesty, there mu-mu-must have been s-some sort of m-misunderstanding! You’re more than welcome at my stall!” The man was sweating bullets.  
“Oh! Glad that’s all cleared up.” Callum abruptly walked away from the stall, and Rayla was more than eager to follow.  
“You didn’t have to do that, Callum. Some people are just… Not ready to accept elves yet.” Rayla said. Really, she was just kind of embarrassed to be in the middle of a big dramatic scene like that. “Plus, you almost exploded back there! You were doing the zappy-hands thing.”  
“The zappy-hands thing?” Ezran had caught up to them.  
Callum ignored him. “I know, it’s just that… I just don’t understand those kinds of people. There’s literally no reason to treat you any different than a human. It’s not fair.” Rayla agreed, but still wanted to comfort her human.  
“True, but if the situations were reversed, you wouldn’t have been welcome, either.” Wow, she wasn’t doing a great job at it. “What I mean to say, is that it’s not something we can really fix, so… Let’s just move on for now!” Callum smiled at her.  
Ezran looked to be fed up with being ignored, and poked Callum with the kabob he was holding. Where did he get a kabob? He wasn’t holding one before… “Callum, what’s the Zappy-hands thing?”  
Callum smirked at his brother, and drew the tiniest rune Rayla had ever seen, with his fifth finger… Pinkie? Yeah, that was the one. Then, he turned around, and jabbed his brother in the belly with it, giving him a little shock.

Ezran giggled and held his stomach. “Hey, that tickles!” It was nice to see Ezran being a kid again, and not just the King.  
“So Ez, where’d you get that kabob? You weren’t holding it when we were talking to that guy.” Rayla asked.  
“Oh, he gave me one for free after I talked to him about how hard it was to make this festival hospitable for elves!” he bit a chunk of meat off happily. “I said, ‘it would be a real shame if things didn’t go smoothly, huh?’ Then he offered me this, and I left!” Well, he was sort of back to being a kid.  
The three of them arrived at another Xadian stall; Rayla was looking for those specifically. Not only did they have the coolest stuff, but there was also a chance of having certain pieces of jewelry she was looking for. As luck would have it, this stall was run by a moonshadow elf, who was selling jewelry. She was about to ask the shopkeeper about the ring she was looking for, when she realised that the intended recipient was still within earshot.

“Hey, guys. Jewelry isn’t super interesting, so maybe you could go and check out another stall while I look at this one?” The two looked at each other, shrugged, and agreed.

Hours later, the group finished with their tour of the festival. The event was three days long, so they had plenty of time to enjoy it.  
“Okay, guys. I’m gonna head back to the castle. I may have squirmed away from my lessons, so they’re probably looking for me,” Ezran said.  
“Alright, Ez. I’m gonna show Rayla the lake.” Callum grabbed Rayla’s hand, seeming to be really excited about something. They ran out of the crowd, and into a less populated portion of the festival. Rayla gasped when she saw it. It was a frozen lake, surrounded by elegant designs, all made up of ice.

“Callum, this is beautiful!” Rayla let her free hand come up to her mouth. There were people on the frozen lake… Willingly? “This is great, but why are those people on the ice?”  
Callum blinked. “They’re… skating. Do elves not go ice skating?”  
“Not any that I know of: ice is slippery and worse, below it is freezing, wet water. Not really my cup of tea.”  
Callum snorted. “Well, here in Katolis, when the lakes are frozen enough, we go onto the ice and skate! It’s really fun.” He stepped out onto the ice with surprising grace, and extended his hand for her to grab.  
“I… don’t know Callum. I’m not sure if I can even move around on the ice, let alone skate around on it.”  
“Here, take my hand. I’ll show you how.” Rayla hesitantly stepped onto the ice, and almost immediately slipped. She reached for Callum’s hand, and found it. He took her hand and grabbed her waist. Then he pulled her back up. “See, I’m not gonna let you fall. At least, not alone.” He smiled.  
Rayla smiled back, though she was still wobbly on the ice.

“So when you want to go, you need to--”  
“Hold on,” She stammered. “I don’t think I’ve even got ‘Stop’ down yet, I’m definitely not ready to ‘go.’” She could still feel her feet sliding out from under her every few seconds.  
“Here, bend your knees a little.” It was just like when Runaan had taught her to fight. She had been much better at fighting. Callum’s tips were helping, though, and soon she was moving. Not exactly at the pace she’d imagined, but she was moving nonetheless.

It was about an hour before Callum took ahold of both of Rayla’s hands, his face close to hers.  
“Rayla, there’s something I need to ask you.” Her heart skipped a beat. She didn’t know if it was their closeness, or that Callum’s face was just as flushed as hers felt. Even as they stopped moving their legs, the ice continued to carry them in spirals, until the world was spinning around them. Their breaths synced, and their grips on each other’s hands tightened. Callum pressed his forehead into hers, and started to speak. “W-Will you--”  
Suddenly their feet are knocked up from under them. Someone had fallen, and the ice had carried them directly into Callum. They both fell, and Rayla landed on top of him. She moved to get up, but Callum cupped his hand to her cheek. His other hand went to his pocket, and he pulled something out. He pulled her closer, their foreheads touching once more. “Marry me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, the cat's out of the bag now. I was planning on them fumble with it a while longer, but I like to think that my Rayla and Callum are more honest with each other, and with themselves. Hopefully.  
> Thanks for reading! Expect a couple more chapters about the festival, and then adventures shall begin!


	9. Knocking Down Doors

Callum’s words fluttered around in Rayla’s chest: bouncing and jittering around until falling back out her mouth. “Marry…”  
She looked down at Callum, who was still sitting there, his face redder than she’d ever seen it. Her eyes widened as they fell on the little plain box Callum was holding, now open. Inside was a ring: a silver band with a small white jewel in the center. The jewel had an incredibly faint golden-blue glow to it. Her eyes darted back to Callum, who was now starting to sweat. He was serious. Luckily, so was she. She’d been on top of him for over a minute now, and she had yet to answer. Instead on answering, she gently grabbed the hand which held her close to Callum, and sat up.

“H-hey, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have--” Rayla silenced him with a finger, and reached into her pocket. Callum gaped at her as she pulled out a ring of her own.

[~-~]

She… was gonna propose to him? Callum thought back to the festival. Of course, he thought. She’d sent him away when they got to a jewelry stall. Rayla opened the box to reveal a similar ring to his, but bearing a different gem. This one was a sky-blue color. Callum sat up and faced Rayla.  
“So…”  
“Yes.” Rayla interrupted.  
“What?”  
She threw on the biggest smile he’d ever seen her wear. “Of course I’ll marry you, you dumb prince!” Callum was awestruck: he felt like he was going to float away.   
His hand quivered as he grabbed her ring from its box. Rayla did the same, and they simultaneously slipped their rings on. He wove his fingers through hers, and they embraced.  
Callum pulled away from his wife-to-be, not because he wanted to, but because they were both shivering at this point. He looked around, to see that people were staring. The other skaters, as well as all of the bystanders were watching them have their moment. As if realising the same thing, Rayla pulled back, too. Some of them were smiling at them, as is customary for watching a proposal. Others, however, looked incredibly bewildered. He was a prince of Katolis, after all. Suddenly deciding that he didn’t want all of the attention he was receiving, Callum removed his scarf and handed it to Rayla.  
“I’m fine, Callum, it’s not that cold.” She looked at him warmly.  
“Let’s get out of here. We should continue this in our room, don’t you think?”  
Rayla flinched, but nodded in agreement.  
Callum removed his jacket next, and stepped away from Rayla. “Manus, Pluma, Volantus.”  
The people around them were in awe, but he didn’t care about that. He offered Rayla his wing, for she was still sitting on the ice. He helped her up, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, as they always did.   
“Let’s go.”

[~-~]

“Wait, so you guys are getting married?” The two lovebirds had just flown back to the castle, where Ezran was waiting for them. He beamed at them, “It’s about time! Who proposed?” They both looked at each other, surprised, and then back at Ezran.  
“How’d you know that we were gonna propose to each other?” Callum asked.  
“Please, you guys are already pretty much married, it was only a matter of time.” Ezran shrugged. Just as they were getting ready to tell him the story of their proposal, Opeli entered the room, looking concerned.  
“King Ezran, Queen Aanya of Duren has arrived a day early. Please prepare to greet her.” Ezran looked at her, disappointed, but nodded.  
He turned back to Callum and Rayla. “Okay, I need to go. You guys go enjoy your evening, and do whatever… It is that engaged people do?”  
The both of them flushed, and turned away from each other a little. Ezran giggled. Embarrassing them was always a good time.

[~-~]

Callum traced his finger along the outline of the gem attached to his ring. He’d woken up next to Rayla like usual, but it felt different, somehow. A rare opportunity presented itself to him: he was rarely able to wake up before she did, so he almost never got a chance to see her sleeping peacefully. An idea struck him, and he slipped out of bed to grab his sketchbook. When he did, he did his very best to not wake her up as he got back into bed. She stirred a little, but fell back asleep quickly. He grabbed his charcoal from the bedside table, and got to work. He wanted to capture her restfulness: her peaceful expression. He wanted to perfectly mirror the way a few rogue strands of hair laid across her face in such a way that was somehow more endearing. The more he looked at her, and the more he drew her, the more beautiful she seemed.

It was just a few minutes later when Rayla awoke. By this point, Callum was dressed. In fact, he had already gone to the kitchen and brought back some fruit. “Good morning, moonlight.” Did you sleep well?” She flinched at her pet name, and regret seeped across her face.  
She was groggy, which was unusual. “What time is it?”  
Callum looked over at their clock. “It’s nine o’clock. It’s a pretty nice day out--”  
“Nine?” Rayla threw her covers off and jumped out of bed. She must’ve moved too quickly too soon after waking up, because she looked a little wobbly. Callum steadied her.  
“Are you okay? You’re usually the very definition of a morning person.”  
“Yeah, last night was a new moon; just gotta power through it.” She took another step, wobbled a little more, and then steadied herself. She got to the wardrobe and dressed herself.  
“Hey, Rayla?” She turned to him. “When… should we make this public? I know it’s not going to be easy on us, but, as a prince, I kind of have to tell the kingdom that I’m engaged.”  
“A wise man once told me, ‘Who cares?’ It doesn’t matter if your people don’t like me, so long as you do.” Rayla grinned.

As much as Callum wanted to agree, the diplomatic ramifications of this marriage were scary. Humans didn’t like elves, and elves didn’t like humans. They both hated halflings. Generally speaking, anyway. As if seeing the worry on his face, Rayla walked up to Callum and wrapped him in a hug.  
“It’ll be okay, Callum.” She pulled away to look at his face. “If nothing else, Human Rayla could make an appearance.” Callum groaned, and pulled away from their embrace. Callum walked up to the door ad turned the knob.

“Yeah, you’re right. Nothing bad is gonna happen from here on out.” He swung the door open, and promptly got kicked in the gut by an unknown assailant. Callum was sent flying back and landed on the floor, the air knocked from his lungs. He looked up to see the face of the attacker, and it was… Aunt Amaya?  
She rushed to help him, but Rayla stepped in between them, her blades drawn.  
“I don’t know who you are, but if you think you can come in here and attack my husband, you’ve got another thing coming.” Callum saw that her legs were still wobbly.   
Amaya wasn’t having it: Callum thought that she probably hadn’t been told that Rayla was actually supposed to be in his room with him.

“Wait…” Callum wheezed. He reached out and grabbed Rayla’s leg. “Don’t fight… misunderstanding… just… step behind me… for a second.” It was really hard to talk if you’ve just gotten the wind knocked out of you. Callum stood up, and began to weave signs for his Aunt. He signed, “This was all just a big misunderstanding. What I said back at the Banther Lodge was a lie. Rayla is my friend.” He looked away, and held out his hand for Rayla to grab, which she did. The rest of Callum’s message could be understood with just one hand: “She’s my world.”  
Amaya’s face softened, and read as if she was saying, ‘Oh.’ She let herself relax, and signed, “I’m really sorry for kicking you… I was going for the door, and you opened it before I could break it down.” She smirked.

Rayla seemed bored, so Callum decided to wrap up their silent conversation. “It’s nice to see you, too. What was so important that you had to knock down my door?”  
“Ezran told me that you were the one to capture Viren. Is that right?” Callum nodded. “I want to see how much my nephew has improved his combat skills.”   
Callum gulped. “Uh, Aunt Amaya, I’m not really--”  
She grabbed his hands before he could finish signing. She let go of one, and began to drag him off, presumably to the training grounds to spar. Callum was not looking forward to this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There wasn't an incredible amount going on in this chapter, but the next one will be more action-packed!


	10. Sparring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A friendly family sparring match!

“Aunt Amaya, I’m really not great at--” She tossed him a wooden practice sword, stopping his signing. He’d been talking as well, mostly for Rayla’s benefit, but catching the sword took too much coordination and he was forced to stop. Soren walked in between the two, and raised one hand to signify that he was about to start the match. “Soren! You’ve got to stop the match, there’s been a misunderstanding.”

Soren smirked at him: “Sorry, Callum. Your Aunt pulls rank on me.”

“But… Soren, your a crownguard!”

“Ready… Set…”

“Soren!”

“Go!” He swung his hand down, signifying that they were meant to begin fighting. Callum was just as bad at sword fighting as he had been when he first left Katolis. On the other hand, his Aunt was an incredible fighter; she even rivalled the new queen of Lux Aurea, who was also standing by to watch the battle. Rayla was there too, with that worried look on her face.

Her face scrunched up, and she she shouted, “Callum, look out!” He looked back over to his Aunt, who was readying a swing of her sword. Okay, he could do this. He raised his sword, preparing to parry the strike. Unfortunately, parrying wasn’t on the narrow list of things he could do to stop his Aunt from demolishing him. He weakly smacked his own sword against hers, but the force was too strong, and his attempts did nothing. She swung hard, but stopped just before hitting him on the top of the head. He could feel that the air around her sword continued to move even after she stopped. Wait, the air?

Amaya walked back to her starting position, and Callum did the same. Soren stepped back out, snickering, and raised his hand once again. He signaled the start of the match, and stepped back. It wasn’t long before she was upon him, her sword primed for a strike… From above? No, that was a faint. She was actually going to swing from the right. How did he know that? There was no time to think, he had to move his sword to block the incoming attack, but his sword was much too slow to block it. Callum flinched and realised that this wasn’t going to work. Once again, Amaya stopped the sword before it could reach him, earning another point. She walked back to her spot, looking perplexed. 

Callum thought about the past two rounds: he had actually felt the air currents moving around his Aunt as she approached him, and those around her sword as she swung it. He closed his eyes… He could feel everything: the air around him was moving in subtle ways that made sense only to him. His eyes shot open, and he had an idea.

“Soren, I call for a time-out.” Soren looked at him, still snickering, as he walked up to the stands to talk with Rayla.

“Hey, Callum, you can do it. You almost blocked that last one!” She smiled, only somewhat patronising.

His sword was too slow, but… Maybe he could move a smaller weapon around more easily. “Hey, Rayla, could you maybe give me a crash course on using a dagger?” He whispered. He turned to look back at Amaya, who was getting more and more confused by the second.

Rayla looked delighted by this idea, and clapped her hands together. She hopped down from the stands and grabbed one of her blades, masterfully flipping it into the dagger.

She directed him into a similar stance to what she took, critiquing every little bit, until it looked good. By this point, amaya had planted her sword in the ground, and Soren was shrugging at her.

“You want to make sure that your legs are bent enough to move around quickly, otherwise you won’t be able to move around fast enough.” Callum deepened his stance. “Good! Now, when you want to swing, make sure that it’s a fast, easy strike.” She demonstrated. 

Callum mimicked it as best he could: Unlike the big, bulky swords he was accustomed to, the knife was light, and didn’t require a large swing to get the same result. The movement was minimal: extend the elbow and move the tip of the blade where you wanted it to go. It was kind of like drawing.

“Thanks, Rayla, I think I get it.” He handed her blade back to her, and walked up to Soren. “Do we have a shorter sword?” 

Soren looked puzzled and drew his own sword, walking over to Callum’s play sword and picked it up. He smirked and compared the practice sword to his own. Callum got the point he was trying to make: ‘Your sword is the short kind.’ Callum mentally measured about how long Rayla’s daggers were, and said, “How about one about this big? Smaller hilt?” Soren shook his head as if the notion were completely ridiculous, but Amaya walked over and motioned for Soren to give her the practice sword.

She drew her own, real sword, and planted the play one into the ground. Soren stood back as she got to work. With three swift strikes, she cut out a dagger from the wooden sword. She then picked it up, and pressed it into Callum’s hand, her expression warm, but mostly curious.

“Okay, I’m ready,” Callum said. He walked back to his starting position and took up the stance Rayla had shown him. Soon, Soren started the round, and Amaya was charging. 

Callum closed his eyes, focusing on the air. Amaya’s sword was coming diagonally from his above-left: the air moved around it so easily. If the air could do it, so could he. He bent his knees, and spun to his back, avoiding the strike. He would have celebrated his minor victory, but another attack was coming. His hand went in front of him, and his dagger behind. He wasn’t sure when he had reversed the grip, but he had. 

The next attack was to be a thrust: the air around her sword rolled and spun as it moved, so he did the same. He stepped to the left and spun out of the way of her thrust. 

Now he was in incredibly close proximity to his Aunt. He brought his dagger around to strike, but she slammed him with her shoulder, knocking him to the ground. Amaya turned, and brought her sword down on Callum. Without thinking about it, he rolled to his left, his hands drawing the Aspiro rune before he had time to think; he activated the spell, and angled it downwards, blowing up a dust cloud. This wasn’t really a problem for Callum, and he closed his eyes. 

Amaya, however, was left without any other choice but to get out of the dust cloud, as there was no way for her to sense where Callum was. She made it out of the cloud and beckoned for him to take the offensive. He wasn’t too confident, but he agreed anyway, and ran towards her. He kept low, and went for a slash from his right. She easily blocked it and returned the blow, causing Callum to dodge. This went on for a while: Amaya may not have had the awareness to see every attack coming, but she had the experience for sure. Callum was starting to get the hang of moving like the air, though, and Amaya was starting to tire. The audience looked on with anticipation. 

Suddenly, Amaya planted her sword in the ground and walked up to Callum to him and tap him on the shoulder, still panting. He opened his eyes. He hadn’t realised that they were still shut. The look on her face was something rare. Amaya wore a mix of confusion, pride, exhaustion, and curiosity. She turned to Soren and signed that she gave up.

Everyone except Rayla gaped at him: he had won against Amaya?

Soren looked the most surprised out of them all. “Woah.” Was all he could manage.

Janai looked almost equally surprised and impressed.

Rayla was simply beaming at him. She jumped from the stands and hugged him. “I told you so.” She pulled back and smiled at him. She was probably proud that her lesson helped him win the match.

Soren walked up to him, still looking astonished. “What was that?” Callum wasn’t so sure himself. He knew that people connected to the sky arcanum were more in touch with the movements of the air, but… That was way more than he ever imagined. “I’ve never seen anyone move the way you just did, let alone you, no offense.”

“Maybe I’m just a better teacher than you,” Rayla smirked. 

Soren looked at her, and clutched his hand to his chest, throwing on a pained expression. “You wound me, Rayla.”

Amaya put her hand on his shoulder. “You’ve grown up so much. Your parents would be proud.” She signed. 

Tears prickled at the very back of Callum’s eyes and threatened to escape, but Callum blinked them away.

“Thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Elite_7 for editing this chapter!  
> I had a little bit extra going on today, so I'm gonna miss uploading the second chapter today. You can expect for there to be two released tomorrow though!


	11. The Festival Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum puts on a magic show!

Callum’s anxiety was contagious. He had been pacing around the room for minutes now, and had yet to explain the reason why, which was unlike him. Callum was always the first to voice his emotions, and rarely needed encouragement to do so. Maybe this was an exception.

Rayla decided to speak up. “Callum, what’s bothering you? You’re gonna wear holes in the floor if you keep pacing like that.” He flinched, seeming to snap out of his thoughts.

Callum sat down on their bed and sighed. “I can’t believe Ezran told the other kings and queens that I’d do a magic show.” Rayla rested her hand on his back and started rubbing it. She did this often when he was upset. “He didn’t even ask me, just promised them a show.”

Rayla knew better than to say anything. This was big feelings time: one does not simply interrupt it.

“I’m not really mad at him, I just wish he wouldn’t have dropped this on me so suddenly.” He seemed to think about what to say next for a bit, then resumed. “That’s the other thing. I’m totally unprepared, and need to have this ready for tomorrow. Not to mention, it’s gotta be something that’s good enough for royalty. You know how snobby human royalty can get?”

She did. Her limited acquaintanceship with them at the festival was enough for her to see what he meant. She’s received her fair share of condescending, meant-to-be-intimidating looks from all kinds of people, but in her short time around them, the royalty of the pentarchy had doubled the number. 

After a few seconds of silence, he looked at her, signifying that he was done. “It’ll be okay, Callum. We’ll think of something, together.” She smiled. Callum returned the smile and leaned in, planting a short kiss on her lips. Short but sweet.  
“Thanks. I could use a walk, though. Wanna come?” She did.

[~-~]

Ezran was more stressed than he’d been in a while. Those jerks demanded something special to ‘make up’ for the fact that there were elves present at the festival. Seriously. It was bad enough that they saw the presence of elves as a bad thing, but they kind of forced his hand in getting Callum to do a magic show. At least Queen Aanya wasn’t insufferable. Far from it, in fact. She stood up for him, though that meant little in the face of the other three kingdoms’ majority. He hated that he put Callum on the spot during their vacation, but Ezran would make it up to him somehow.

Being a king was exhausting. One would think that a king would have all the freedom in the world, but that just wasn’t the case. In fact, most of his days were completely planned for him. It didn’t help that he was attempting to heal the scars left by a long, long war. The two peoples simply refused each other. Opeli had said peace was harder than war, but in reality… it was harder.

[~-~]

Callum wracked his brain for ideas. What would be entertaining for a group of people looking for excuses to not be entertained? He thought he’d outdone himself when it came to the lake, but they were too bitter about what happened during a time of war to accept a time of peace. He was a sky mage. There had to be some kind of show he could pull off. An idea popped into his mind. He, a normal human man, would predict the weather.

Of course, he wasn’t going to predict the weather, he was going to change it. Somehow, the former would be more… Magical?  
“Rayla, I have a plan!”

[~-~]

Much later, queen Aanya stood beside a hastily-crafted stage along with the other kingdom leaders. They were talking amongst themselves, something about how funny the coming show was going to be. Of course, they didn’t know what she knew. She was there, at the Battle of the Storm Spire. She’d seen his magic firsthand. He was a mage, and a great one at that. She had no doubt in her mind that this show would be just as entertaining as they expected it to be, albeit for a different reason.  
King Ezran wasn’t present, probably because he was running other aspects of the festival. He did a good job of hiding it, but she could tell he was reaching the end of his rope. She had seen much worse actors in her time as queen, and was sure to see more in the future.

A crowd gathered at the base of the stage, eagerly awaiting the ‘magic show’ that they were promised. The curtains parted, and Callum walked out, wearing his normal clothes. That much was surprising, as she figured he would try to make his performance as grandiose as possible. 

She could only think of two reasons for him to not wear something more extravagant: one, he didn’t care. She didn’t think that was true for a second, which meant that the second option was true: He was trying to make himself look as normal as possible. He must know that they think lowly of him: expectation subversion. If being a mage doesn’t pan out, perhaps Callum would make a wonderful tactician for his brother.

Callum stood there nervously, seeming to be unsure as to how to start. It didn’t take him long to get over his stage fright, however, and he soon straightened his scarf and spoke. “May I have your attention, please? If you have an umbrella or cloak with you, I would recommend that you use it: if not, you can find an umbrella on this table.” He gestured towards a small table sitting in front of the stage.   
As annoying as Aanya’s guards were, they always had her best interest at heart: she had made sure of that. So, one of them had an umbrella for her. She took it with thanks and opened it; the others looked at her as if she’d grown horns from her head. “It will start raining in just a little bit, so I want to make sure everyone can stay out of it.” He smiled at the crowd and disappeared back behind the curtain. Aanya smiled as she looked up: the sky was a perfect, untarnished blue, without a cloud in sight. She knew this would be interesting.

The other leaders looked up into the sky, and began to laugh, almost uncontrollably. “The--The boy thinks it’s going to rain!” Now they were just being rude. It was mere seconds later that clouds began to form overhead, looking ready to release their contents; they soon did. Aanya contained her chuckle as the other leaders fumbled with their own umbrellas, scoffing at the fact that he was correct.  
d  
It was still raining when Callum appeared once again from behind the curtains.“Okay, you might want to put your umbrellas away, guys. It’s gonna stop any second now.” He waved his hand and the rain stopped falling. He frowned at the remaining people with umbrellas still up. “A draft might waft through any second. I wouldn’t want you to lose your umbrellas. In fact--” As if to prove his point to the crowd, he turned on his heels and re-entered the curtains behind him, presumably to put his umbrella away. Soon enough, a strong breeze starts, and the people with umbrellas out start to fumble with them, until they either let go, or put them away. 

Callum stepped back out. The breeze stopped as he did. The scoffs from the rest of the royalty became more and more common. They were more than baffled, expecting that it was all a trick of some sort. Technically, Callum never said that he wasn’t controlling the weather. Callum wasn’t really making a fool of them; they were making fools of themselves. “Now, let’s begin the show.” 

Aanya snorted. Callum really loved his brother. He’s making a fool of himself and his trade to save King Ezran’s hide. 

Callum showed the crowd a small red ball in his hands. He said he would duplicate it with magic, and instructed the crowd to follow his hand. He attempted to flick his wrist to retrieve a ball from his sleeve, but made too big a motion, causing them to fall out. His brow furrowed in frustration. Maybe he truly wanted to do the fake magic trick, or maybe he was an excellent actor. Maybe both. Callum just shrugged off the laughter that followed.

“Is this a magic show, or a comedy act?” Her neighbor remarked. Ugh. They’d always had poor taste in entertainment. How was it not interesting to see what kind of tricks he truly had up his sleeve? Maybe she was just too perceptive. Yeah, that was it.

Next, he fumbled with a deck of cards. He wasn’t the most coordinated man, she now saw, as he dropped the deck, letting cards flutter everywhere. His frustration was visible, and too visceral to be fake.  
He suddenly flinched and looked at the sky. He looked over at the curtain, and whispered to someone, the shock showing on his face. He sighed and looked upon the crowd. “Well, let me be honest with you. I had a whole thing planned, and it was gonna go into the night to finish the festival. However, King Ezran has informed me that there’s going to be a ball instead, so we’ll be moving to the finale.”

He raised his hand into the air and began drawing runes. A lot of runes. They looked to be in pairs, and he whispered to himself as he wrote each one. Then, he reached for his pocket and pulled something out. He crushed it, and drew another rune, this one purple.

The other leaders looked astonished. Well, the cat was out of the bag now. “Did you not receive word that the Prince of Katolis was a mage?” She looked at them, almost letting the smugness show on her face. She turned away from them and looked at what he’d done. Before them was a snowy tornado: it periodically changed colors as it spun. Its spirals tightened as it became taller and taller. Once it was about thin enough for one to wrap their hands around the base, flakes of rainbow snow flew out the top as the bottom disappeared in tandem. Soon the tornado was gone, and all that was left was a sky full of dimly glowing rainbow snow.  
Each flake was a different color, some of which she’d never seen before. “Amazing…” She looked back at Callum just in time to see him slipping away hurriedly.


	12. Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaravos's butterfly comes back and gives Callum a spark of hope!

Much came to light that night. The ball itself was about as good as balls go, but Rayla and Callum had been spotted together wearing their rings. Controversy rose up as it often does, and Callum was forced to make a public announcement of their engagement. It wasn’t the worst thing, but he had hoped to wait until they were closer to getting married. They had a whole journey ahead of them, and they weren’t sure where it would take them, or when they would return. Now they would have to deal with an extra layer of harassment from people. 

It’s not as if their opinions really mattered, but it would definitely get annoying. It was nice to see Amaya and Janai together, as if validating his own relationship, not that he needed it. He was pretty sure that he couldn’t live without her at this point. It was like an addiction, and the Rayla withdrawls were too great to ever consider stopping.

After the ball ended, everyone in question was tired. Ezran had just run a festival, Callum and Rayla had just dealt with more questions than they could possibly answer, and the entire castle’s staff was dead tired.

Though tired, sleep did not come easy to Callum that night. Nagging thoughts pecked at the edge of his mind until he could no longer lay about waiting for the clutches of sleep to grasp him. He needed some air. When he left to get some, however, he was greeted by a somewhat familiar giant butterfly: it was the one that Viren was trying to kill on top of the Storm Spire. 

“Hello, child.” It’s voice was a low, soothing sound. Wait, its voice?

It was already kind of weird that it had followed him now, but now it showcased high intelligence. “You… can talk?”

The butterfly nodded. As it did, its sparkling wings bowed with its head, creating a slight breeze. “You saved me from that dark mage. I wish to return the favor. How may I serve you?” 

He winced a little. “You don’t need to, I had a personal grudge anyway. Go have a nice life somewhere, okay? 

Callum turned to return to his room when the butterfly chuckled. “Noble and without avarice, eh? There must be something… Something you’re missing. You don’t seem the type to want for riches or women, especially with that ring you’re wearing… But, perhaps, I could help with a different aspect of your family?”

That stopped Callum in his tracks. He turned and stared at the creature. “What do you mean?”

The butterfly’s eyes glistened under the moon. “Sadly, your parents can’t be returned to the land of the living.” Callum started to turn back around. “But those of someone dear to you can.”

Once again, Callum was completely stopped in his tracks. “Rayla’s parents are alive?” He said a little to loudly.

“Not necessarily. They drift amok between a state of life and death. A skilled mage may be capable of bringing them back. The dark mage who threatened my life also ‘killed’ your loved one’s parents, yes? Perhaps someone close to him would know.” The butterfly chuckled again, and flapped its wings to signify that it was preparing to leave.

“Wait, why are you helping me? Callum reached out.

“Remember this,” The butterfly was off the banister now, and beginning to fly away. “A startouch elf always repays his debts.”

A startouch elf?

[~-~]

Aaravos chuckled to himself as his avatar flew into the night. “The pieces are in place. Now, I just have to wait for them assemble themselves.” His baritone voice echoed through his chamber.

[~-~]

What had just happened? He woke up next to Rayla immediately after that butterfly had left, yet it was morning. Had that been a dream? He tried to think of what the creature had said. ‘Perhaps someone close to him would know.’ He thought about it for a second. Who was close to Viren? Soren? No. Definitely not. His wife had left him years ago, so that was another no. That left Callum with one option left, and he begrudgingly accepted it as the correct one. Claudia.

He only waited for Rayla to get up out of courtesy. The last thing he wanted to do was to get her hopes up for her parents if there wasn’t a way to bring them back. After all, Viren had undoubtedly used dark magic to get them the way they were, so maybe dark magic was also the only way to get them back..? No. He wouldn’t rule out any possibilities for now. For all he knew, that butterfly was a total liar. 

And that was another thing. It had said something about startouch elves always repaying their debts. What was that all about? There were too many uncertainties to put too many eggs in any basket. He was going to keep his eggs to himself, thank you very much.

Rayla woke up a while later than he did, eying him. It was rare for him to be out of bed before her, but somehow it had become a more common occurrence during their stay in Katolis. No matter who got up first, though, they typically stayed in bed, savoring the warmth of their embrace for a while longer. Today, however, Callum was completely dressed, and ready to go. 

“Sorry if I woke you, but I need to go talk to Ezran, and probably run some errands afterword.” She quickly sat up.

“Want me to come with you?” He winced: he’d been expecting the offer, and turning it over in his mind about how he’d respond.

“Sorry, Ray. I think this is something I’ve got to do by myself.” For some reason, he felt incredibly guilty about this. They usually spent every waking minute with each other, and were all the better for it. “I’ll definitely be back in time to say goodbye to Amaya and Janai, though.” His aunt and her wife were leaving that day: after all, they couldn’t leave Lux Aurea on its own for too long.

“Oh, there’s no need to apologise, Callum. I’ll just do some… Morning training!” She smiled warmly at him. He still felt guilty about leaving her in the dark, though.

He left their room and headed towards Ezran’s. His brother had inherited their father’s habit of sleeping in until the sun was well over the horizon, which it currently wasn’t. This was important, though. Callum was sure his brother would understand.

The guards looked at him as he approached the King’s chamber. “King Ezran hasn’t risen yet.”

Callum wasn’t surprised in the least, and motioned for the guards to let him through. They looked at each other and shrugged.

He walked up to the side of the bed and looked down on it. It was weird to see his brother in it. He shook the thoughts from his head and sat down on the side of the bed.

Ezan groaned as he pushed the covers off himself and sat up. “Have any elephant taffy dreams?” Callum asked.

Ezran looked at him like he’d just committed a heinous crime. “Yeah, except the elephant was actually the other rulers of the pentarchy, and there was no taffy.” Ouch.

“Do you need a minute?”

“No, I’m still dressed. Did you need something, or did you just want to ask me about my dream?”

His little brother had become a thirty-year-old man in the few months since he’d last seen him. He let out a sigh. He hated that he had to bother his brother, but this was important. Really, really important. “I need to talk to Claudia. Do you know where she is today?”

Ezran rubbed his eyes, swinging his legs off the bed. “Yeah, I think she’s in the farms today. I’ll send for Soren to take you to her. Gimme like ten minutes.” Callum grimaced. Claudia had used dark magic for everything in her life. Like, everything. She once used it to make pancakes, no joke. That’s probably why Ezran chose this for her punishment. Dark magic was like an addiction: Ezran planned to ease her off of it, and get her used to working for the things that she wanted, without the immediate satisfaction of getting it by paying in something else’s blood.

He nodded, and walked out of the chamber, waiting for his brother to finish his business. It didn’t actually take ten minutes. They descended the stairs and they went to the kitchen first. Of course, Ezran needed his jelly tarts to function properly.

Once all the preparations were done, Ezran called for Soren to escort Callum to Claudia. He didn’t really need it, but whatever. Soren was his friend, too, and they could use a bit of time to talk.  
Soren arrived and they set off in silence. They were just going to walk the way to where Claudia was working. “So…” Soren started. “What’s going on? Before, you looked like you didn’t want to have anything to do with Claudia, but now you’re actively seeking her out. Did something happen?”

Soren was being surprisingly sharp for being… Soren. “Maybe,” Callum responded. “And I don’t really. I know you really care about her, and that she was confused at the time, but…” Callum looked at his friend. He had an understanding look on his face. Callum sighed. “I guess it’s just gonna take a little more convincing for those friendly feelings to come back, if they ever do.”

Soren nodded at him. “When I deserted Dad’s army, I tried to convince Claudia to come with me, but she couldn’t possibly choose between family members like that. Not again.” He stared off in the distance as he talked. “I’m not saying that she made a good choice, or that I wasn’t mad about what happened, but I understand why she did what she did.”

“Well, it’s fine. That’s all in the past, and she’s making up for it now, right? I just hope she can help me.” Callum looked at the sky. He hoped with all his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm super glad that people are enjoying this fic so far! I swear that the adventure will start soon. I've been saying that for a while, but buildup is taking longer than I thought it would. I don't know exactly where we're going from this point, but it should be exciting!


	13. Looking Back in Order to Move Forward, Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claudia recalls the day that Viren betrayed her. Callum finally gets a few answers.

“So, what exactly happened that day, at the Storm Spire?” Claudia was taking a break so that she could talk with Callum. She thought he simply wanted to visit her, but that didn’t seem to be the case. She also hoped that he could forgive her for what had happened. She had been so enamoured with her father ever since her mother left, that she couldn’t see the way he had been changing. She couldn’t even see it when Soren left, or, at least, she didn’t want to.

“So… D--Viren fell from the Spire and I brought him back… He wasn’t the same after that.” She shuddered as she said her father’s name. It wasn’t that she was particularly afraid of him, it was just… Unusual to say the name.

“You… brought him back?” Callum eyed her suspiciously. She hated it. His dorky face should never have been taught to look that way. “How did you do that?” She looked down at her feet, she herself repulsed by the memory. “Nevermind, I don’t think I want to know.” Callum sighed, and motioned for her to continue her story.

She thought it through. How did she want to say this? She remembered it vividly, even though the day’s events whizzed past her like flying arrows. 

_Her father had just called her into the chamber of their cave which housed the cocoon. Ever since she had resurrected him, her father hadn’t been the same. He talked to himself, and acted as a stranger to her. Of course, because of this, she was more than eager to see what he wanted when he called her in._

_He held a pouch in his hand; it jingled with what sounded like coins when he moved it around. “Claudia, I would like your help with something.” His smile was the fake one he often had used when addressing King Harrow._

__

_Somewhat concerned, she tilted her head to the side. “What… do you need?”_

__

__

__

_His voice took a sort of mock urgency to it: “We must destroy this… thing before it emerges from its cocoon.”_

____

__

____

_She was confused. “Wasn’t that the thing that was helping you?”_

_____ _

__

_____ _

_His voice raised slightly. “Don’t you trust me?”_

______ _ _

__

______ _ _

_As different as he now was, he was still her dad, and she trusted him. “I do. What’s the plan?”_

_______ _ _ _

__

_______ _ _ _

_“Good, good. I want you to attack the cocoon while I ready my own magic.” He jangled the coins around. “I’ll trap it, and…” And? “Well, let’s get started.”_

________ _ _ _ _

__

________ _ _ _ _

_She readied the staff her father had given her. The one with the sun primal had been recovered by the sunfire elves. She readied a fireball spell, pulling a spider from a wall next to her. It was a good thing they were still in Xadia: there were magical creatures everywhere. **“tcejbo siht nrub semalf!”** A small flame manifested in the palm of her hand, and she cast it toward the cocoon. The fireball grew as it flew, until it fully encompassed the creature._

_________ _ _ _ _ _

__

_________ _ _ _ _ _

_The fire burned through the webbing, and the cocoon burst apart. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left but ash. She turned to her father, and said, “Heh, looks like we won’t even need your other spell.”_

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

_Viren looked at her. “That’s not exactly true. May I have my staff, Claudia?” She turned it over to him. “You’re such a good daughter.” He took a step toward her. “So loyal. So trusting.” He crouched and set the bag of coins on the floor, opening it to grab one. He pulled out a blank, golden coin from the pouch, and stood back up. “Just like Soren was such a good son.”_

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_“Um, dad?” Claudia took a step away from her father, not allowing her eyes to leave his._

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_He followed. “I was so proud of him. He was a crownguard, and would have become greater than ever, had he simply accepted my help.” He flipped the coin around in his hand. “In the end, he betrayed me, just like Harrow.” He took a step forward. “Just like the council.” He took another step forward. “Just. Like. You.”_

_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_Claudia’s eyes widened as her father’s eyes began to glow the purple that signified the casting of dark magic. This was it: she was sure to die at her father’s crazed hand. Then, the creature she thought she had killed burst from the ashes, blasting magic of some kind. It hit her directly, knocking her back. “D...Dad?” She looked up to see her father, completely occupied with killing the creature, ignoring her plea completely. Then, her eyes fell on the pouch, still lying on the ground._

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_She got up, ignoring the pain, and started to run, grabbing the pouch on her way. She put it into her bag, and went as fast as her injured body could take her. “I’ve got to warn Callum. My father is… Alive. And Crazy.”_

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Claudia snapped out of the memory, to see that Callum wore a concerned look on his face. She felt the coolness of tears on hers. Huh. She hadn’t really thought about it until just then.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

She got up, and walked over to the table her bag was sitting on, and removed the pouch of coins.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“My father tried to… kill me, I think.” She turned around and walked back over with the pouch in hand. “With these.” She tossed it to Callum, and he barely managed to catch it.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Coins?” He squinted as he opened the bag, looking confused.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“The incantation went like this, **‘Erusaert ym si luos ruoy’**. ‘Your soul is my treasure.’

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Callum’s eyes widened before her, and he gasped. Quickly, he dumped the entire pouch out, searching for… something.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Uh, Callum? Are you okay?” He was starting to look a little crazy himself.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

He seemed to find what he was looking for, and he held it up in the light. The coin… It had… a face on it? She gasped. So that’s what her father planned to do to her. She shuddered. “Claudia, Soren, come over here and help me. Pick out all the ones with faces on them.” He looked up. “Hurry!”

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

She quickly complied, as did Soren, though he didn’t seem to know what was going on. There weren’t that many, but just one was enough to make Claudia nauseous. After her dad had died and come back to life, she knew that there was something wrong with him, but… This? This had been done long before the battle at the Storm Spire. This was something he had been doing while he was still sane. The thought made her want to puke.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

It didn’t take long for the three of them to separate apart all of the coins. There were a total of ten people trapped in them, their faces constantly molding back and forth between defiance and fear.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Callum’s hands shook as he found three coins out of the group. He looked at two, who looked at each other always, no matter their relative locations. “These are.. Them. Rayla’s parents.” Claudia’s nausea was catching up with her. She was always against those who called dark magic bad, but this..? It was evil. 

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

[~-~]

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Callum couldn’t get it out of his head. The looks of people eternally suffering. It was enough to make Claudia vomit, and that wasn’t an easy feat. He had decided to bring this up to the council himself. “Before I go, Claudia, is there anything else you can tell me about these coins?”

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I… no. I didn’t even know that he had these, let alone what they are. Maybe… He has something about them somewhere in his study?” He probably did, but now wasn’t the time to think about that. 

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Okay. Soren, I want you to go assemble the council. I’m gonna call a meeting about this.” Soren looked at him, and nodded. He technically wasn’t a council member, but they had to listen to him. He was the prince. Also, Ezran had requested him. Specifically.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe that Trading Life for Love got 1,000 hits in less than a week! Thanks a lot!
> 
> I was going to include the council meeting and some other key events in this chapter, but I figured I'd split it up.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading!


	14. Looking Back in Order to Move Forward, Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla deals with sudden news.

Soren technically didn’t have the authority to call on the council for a meeting, but he also technically wasn’t the one calling the meeting. He was just just delivering a message for Callum. He tried to explain this to the individual councilmen who he met with, but none of them would listen to him. _Him,_ a crownguard! At least Opeli listened.

“I will go and retrieve the other councilmen. If Prince Callum is truly calling a meeting, it must be important.” Callum… Kinda hated being a prince. That was probably at least partially his fault. He’d called him a ‘step prince’ and used sword practice as a way to bully him all those years ago. Here he thought that Callum wasn’t cut out for sword fighting: the truth was simply that he had been a bad teacher. Or maybe Callum wasn’t cut out for Katolan sword fighting. That probably wasn’t true. He was probably just a bad teacher. He walked through the hallway: he was going to the throne room to prepare Ezran for what was to come.

[~-~]

Rayla was in the courtyard with her blades. It’d been a while since she’d dedicated time to just training by herself. She ran through the movements that Runaan had shown her. She was no longer an assassin, but that wouldn’t stop her from being as skilled as one.

She was swung her blades behind without looking, thinking she was alone.

“Woah!” She hastily turned around to see Callum ducking and holding the top of his head as if it was going to fall off.

“Callum, I could have killed you! You can’t just sneak up on me while I’m… You snuck up on me?” She was shocked. Her mentor had been the only one ever capable of that.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry. There’s something important going on. Like, really, really important.”

She quickly flipped her blades away and tucked them into their holsters. “What’s going on?”

“Come on. I’ll tell you on the way.”

He grabbed her hand and started back towards the throne room. He was walking unusually fast, and she actually had to try to meet his pace: usually it was the other way around.

“I’m calling for a council meeting. I want you to be there.”

“Woah, calm down, there. I’m sure we have time to walk.” He’d been nearly jogging. “Now start from the beginning. What’s so important that it requires a council meeting, and why does it involve me?

Callum bit his lip. He was nervous. Never a great sign. “Rayla, I…” He sighed. “You know how hard it is to tell people bad news when they look so happy.”

“Would you rather I be grumpy?” She smirked, but his expression remained stoic, resolute.

“Rayla, this is about your parents. And Runaan, too.” She stopped walking altogether. Her parents? They were dead long ago. Why were they coming up now? Why was there a council meeting being held about their parents? And Runaan? He’d killed the king. Was this about that?

“I don’t understand, what do you mean?” It had come out more desperate than she’d meant it to. It was pretty accurate to how she was feeling, though.

“I went to go see Claudia because I had a dream last night.” He looked at her. They were still stopped in the middle of the hallway, holding hands. “Remember that butterfly that was there the day I froze Viren?”

“Yeah, the giant one with the starry wings.”

“It came to me in my dreams last night, and told me that your parents weren’t dead, just trapped somewhere. It also said that someone close to Viren would know more about it.” He stopped, giving her a chance to say something, but she didn’t have anything to say, yet. “I went to Claudia and she stole these from Viren.” He held up a pouch that seemed to be full of coins. “Rayla, I think that Viren didn’t kill them, but trapped their souls in here.”

She didn’t know what to feel, let alone what to say. The thoughts wouldn’t stop rushing through her mind. Her parents were alive? She’d already gotten over their deaths. Would there be a way to get them out? If so, then it would probably be using dark magic. Would they be okay with being saved by dark magic? Would she?

As if reading her mind, Callum put the pouch away and grabbed her other hand. “It’s gonna be okay, Ray. We’ll figure something out. That’s why we’re having a council meeting, right?”

If nothing else, Callum was a genius at calming her down. “Okay. We’ll just talk about it. Right.” She took a deep breath, and nodded at Callum to signify that she was ready to go. She wasn’t sure if she truly was, but she didn’t want everyone to wait for her to be ready. Not when she wasn’t sure if she’d ever been ready.

They arrived at the throne room, and everyone was there, ready.

She could only hope for a happy ending to this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Relatively short chapter: I don't really want to type out the meeting, as it kinda seems as if it would be boring. So, instead, we'll be doing a minor time-skip, and the next chapter will mark the start of their adventure.


	15. Quick Journey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum and Rayla embark on their journey together!

Rayla shifted her grip on her parents. They weren’t dead, just trapped between life and death, as Callum put it. They were stuck in these… coins. She looked at them again, and sighed. They were always looking at each other, no matter what. It was nice, to see that they loved each other that much. Even if it didn’t extend to her.

If Callum knew what she was thinking, he’d try to correct her right away, but this wasn’t something that needed corrected. Her parents didn’t love her all that much: they didn’t have a chance. They didn’t know what her favorite food was, or how snarky she was, or how much she’d grown since they’d seen her last. She knew it wasn’t their fault, but… It was impossible to pin these feelings just anywhere.

“Hey, Ray. We’ll fix this. I know it.” Callum wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

She returned her parents to their pouch. “Yeah, we will.”

[~-~]

They were finally, finally on the road. It had been decided that they would go on their journey for Callum to learn magic, while Claudia would work on trying to free Viren’s prisoners without using dark magic. Callum was sure that she could do it using dark magic, but he was determined to not resort to it. He didn’t want to fall back on dark magic, no matter what, in fact. Not only was it illegal in Katolis, but the idea of killing something to free someone didn’t seem right.

They were headed to the Cursed Caldera to visit Lujanne at the moon nexus. They both figured that’s where he’d be most likely to connect to the moon.

“It’s like it was just yesterday, we were traveling through here.” Callum reminisced. 

“Yeah.” It was in incredibly different circumstances, though. The last time they’d been through here, they were on a mission to end the great war: to save the world. Now, they had a bit more time to dawdle: and having that extra time to dawdle with your fiance… It wasn’t something she’d take for granted.

She wasn’t as carefree as Callum seemed to be, however. Her parents were still trapped inside those coins. Not to mention that Claudia was in charge of getting them out. Sure, she knew more about dark magic than all of them, but… Could she really find a solution that didn’t involve dark magic? The girl couldn’t even make pancakes without it, let alone undo a powerful spell.

She cleared her head. This was supposed to be a fun, relaxing adventure.

[~-~]

Callum had learned much during his time around Rayla. Sneaking, slish-slashing… Hiding emotions. It didn’t feel right that he was so bent out of shape about Rayla’s parents. He was more upset than she was! He could tell. He had plenty of practice seeing through her facades. Her? Not so much.

He never hid his emotions before this whole situation, but he was doing it now; he didn’t really know why. They were her parents, and yet, it was killing him to see them so close, yet so far from their reach.

All it would take was a simple dark magic spell. Claudia had made that clear to him. 

Callum cleared his head: if he continued to think about this, the journey wouldn’t be fun for either of them. He looked over at her. She was walking at his side, looking up into the canopy above them.

“Hey. Wanna see this forest from above?” He lightly jabbed his elbow at her arm.

She turned to him and smiled. “But of course, my Prince” She performed an over exaggerated bow. “Whatsoever thou mayst desirest.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle. ‘Human Royalty Rayla’ was even worse than normal ‘Human Rayla.’ That was truly saying something. He gleefully skipped forward, which incited giggling fit from behind him. He had already been wearing a sleeveless shirt: it felt nice to let the breeze flow through him. Rayla didn’t get it, so Callum just guessed it was a sky arcanum thing. The more of him that was exposed to open air, the more at home he felt. The air felt as if it provided no resistance: in fact, it felt as if it was helping to propel him forward, like a sail.

**“Manus, Pluma, Volantus!”** He sprouted his mage wings and spread them wide, letting the air flow around them. He turned around, propelling a small gust of wind at Rayla. It blasted back her hair and it stayed there. She looked totally ridiculous.

Her hair fell back down, some of it landing on her face. She blew the strand out of her face and scowled, only looking a little playful. “All right, bird boy. Turn around, and lets do this.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Flying would reduce their travel time by a lot. They were going to reach the Cursed Caldera in just a day’s time at this rate. He didn’t really want to reduce their travel time; it was part of the reason they were even on this journey. He really needed to fly, though. His mind wouldn’t stop racing, and the best remedy was to go for a fly. He figured they could stop in the town at the base of the mountain and climb it in the morning. That way, they could spend the night in comfort.

It was those times, with the both of them flying high above the clouds, that he felt the best. It was those times that he felt that he was at home. He loved magic, he loved how he felt in the sky, and he loved Rayla. It was some of his favorite things all together. It couldn’t last forever, though, and he started to get tired.

“Hey, Rayla?” He turned his head and looked at her through the corner of his eye. Her head was held high, her eyes closed. He was sure that if she didn’t have to keep her arms around him to not fall off, they would be held high above her head. She loved it just as much as he did.

“Yeah, Callum?”

“It’s starting to get a little hard to keep going. Do you wanna spend the night in that town we were in before?”

“Oh, you mean the one that formed a mob and chased us out?” He was beginning to see the flaws in his plan. She leaned in and whispered to him. “I’d love to.” Her warm breath contrasted the cool air around them, and sent shivers down his spine. She must have felt it, because she giggled at him soon after.

“Well, I mean… the sun’s setting, a-and I can’t keep flying forever, and…” She giggled even louder at that.

“I wasn’t being sarcastic, Callum! Really, I’d like to see Ellis and Ava while we’re here, anyway. We can climb the mountain in the morning.”

“Oh.” Huh. Maybe she was sneakier than he thought.

He found a landing spot a little ways away from the town, whose name continued to evade him. He’d gotten much better at flying since he started; the main area he had needed practice in was the landing. Of course, he was now much better at it. Not perfect, but better.

He touched down and dispelled his wings. The two of them started toward the town. His shoulders were a bit sore, so he stretched them out as they walked. “There we go, limber as a log.”

Rayla shot him a funny look. “Uh, Callum? Typically logs aren’t the most limber.”

He stopped walking, and looked down at his hands. “Huh.”

The two continued in silence until a sudden realisation hit Callum. “Rayla, did we bring money?” He watched as her eyes widened and she checked her bag. He heard a groan shortly after. Well, they’d figure something out.

While Rayla no longer needed to wear a disguise, they decided that it would be more convenient if the townsfolk thought they were both human. While the war ended, and elves were welcomed by the king, the majority of is subjects were less hospitable towards them, to say the least.

They entered the town and once again, there was a gathering of people in the plaza. They approached the outside of the circle and listened.

“Anyone? Anyone at all? Really? No one is willing to fight me for this bag of money?” Callum looked at him. He was a largely built man, and looked like he had nothing on him besides the satchel of coins he was flaunting around.

Rayla started to roll up her imaginary sleeves. “Well, if I may…” Callum grabbed her wrist as she stepped forward.

“Hey. I trust you, but don’t you think we should avoid blowing our cover for now? Let me do this.” He grinned. He wanted to try out the thing he learned while he was fighting Amaya. Plus, he had a trick up his sleeve. Figuratively. He wasn’t really wearing sleeves.

“Oh, I see that glint in your eye. Fine. Be careful.” She rolled her eyes at him.

His grin grew larger. He lightly pushed through the crowd. “I’ll fight you.”

The man turned to him, first looking for Callum at his eye level, but then he looked down to find that a kid was challenging him. The man laughed at him. Well, it would definitely make it easier if he was being underestimated. “Ha! Maybe come back once your chest has got some hair on it!”

Callum’s grin faltered, but only a little. “Oh, you aren’t scared to fight me, are you? A little kid like me? I bet I could beat you blindfolded.” He probably could, now that he thought about it.

The man stopped laughing. “You little punk.” He took a step towards Callum, probably in an attempt to be intimidating. A few months ago, it probably, no, definitely would have worked. Callum was different, now, though. No amount of muscle was enough to scare him. Well, that wasn’t true, but this man certainly didn’t meet that criteria. “If you keep talking like that, you’re really gonna get it, kid.”

“You mean the money? Man, I should have known all it would take was words to beat you.” Callum heard a muffled snort from the croud. So, in his infinite wisdom, he decided to continue pushing. He took off his scarf and tied it around his eyes. Then, he stuck his hand out, and made a gesture he’d learned from watching Amaya spar.

“That’s it. You asked for it.” Callum focused. Just like before, he could feel the way the air around his opponent moved. The man reared his right hand up clumsily, about to punch him. Callum didn’t have a dagger like last time, but he did have something. When he focused on seeing the fulminis rune in his head, he could get a tiny spark from his hands. He hadn’t really perfected it, but it was more than enough to be able to show off.

When the man’s fist approached him, he followed the air around it, letting his right hand reach up to the man’s shoulder. A Spark came from his hand, but it wasn’t really necessary. His opponent had put too much weight into his attack, and was now falling into his attack. This would be easier than he’d thought.

He simply kicked the man’s foot out from under him while was already falling. He… He swept the leg! Yes! His celebration was both internal and external, much to Rayla’s discontent.

The man got back up, his face scraped, and a welt already forming on his shoulder. “Ooh, you might wanna get some ice for that.” Callum’s quips came easy. This wasn’t really a fight, it was more like… A demonstration.

His opponent huffed, and bowed his head like a bull, ready to charge. When he did, Callum couldn’t find a great way to avoid it. He could try to jump over him, but… No, he had a better idea. He quickly drew the rune he wanted, and whispered, **“Aspiro Frigus.”** He blew toward the ground in front of him, causing his assailant to slip and slide toward him, thrashing the whole way. 

He didn’t have any control of where he was going, so Callum could easily sidestep. “Hey, are you done yet? I’m running out of things to show off.”

The man looked up at him, with a newfound glint of respect in his eyes. “You… Are a mage?” He seemed to turn over the idea in his head. “Wait, a human mage? Are you… Prince Ca--”

The man flinched as he found the young mage in front of him abruptly. Callum’s hand fell on his shoulder. “Listen. I don’t want these people to know who I am, and I also don’t want to hurt you. You get me?” The man nodded at him, his eyes wide at the realisation of what just happened.

Callum walked over to the bag of money on the ground and took it, walking back towards his waiting fiance. The crowd parted as he walked. Some were in total awe, and others looked a little scared.

“You show off.” Rayla grinned as he walked up to her. Their hands interlocked and they headed for the inn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the late upload today, I didn't work on it until it was already a little late.


	16. Up the Mountain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our group travels up the Cursed Caldera for a second time.

“You never told me you could do zappy hands on command.” Rayla smirked at him. At this point, they could very well afford every room in the inn; they only needed one, though.

“I guess it just never came up. I just have to think about drawing the Fulminis rune in my head, and I can get a smaller version of the spell.” It was a skill that could come in handy, if he was any good at any of the hand-to-hand fighting styles people tried to teach him. None had really stuck, so he’d probably just have to stick with shooting the lightening.

They laid on their bed for hours, and could probably stay there for longer. “You never did tell me: why did you want to hide who you are? You may not have had to fight that guy, as impressive as it was.”

“I… Kinda hate being a prince. Sometimes, it’s just nice to go around being a normal person for a change, you know?” He hated the way he was coveted, but only to his face. He was only a step-prince, after all. If people don’t know who you are, they’re more likely to tell you what they truly think. That honesty is a much easier medicine to take than the sickly-sweet facade that people give him.

“I understand. It’s not something I would ask for either.” She planted a comforting kiss on his cheek and sighed. “Well, We’ve got a mountain to climb, huh?”

“Yeah, but there’s someone we should visit, first.”

[~-~]

“Hey, you guys didn’t forget about me!” Ellis was ecstatic to see them.

Callum made a face. “Why… would we have forgotten about you?” 

“Nevermind. It was a callback.”

“We’re going up the mountain to see Lujanne, and figured we should come see you, too.” 

Ellis kept smiling. “I’m glad, but why?”

“Callum here’s gonna try and connect to the moon arcanum.” Rayla added.

“Didn’t she say that you couldn’t do that, though?” Ellis still wore her smile. She didn’t seem like she’d changed much since they’d met her.”

“Wait, you don’t know?” She made a face, meaning that no, she didn’t know.

Rayla motioned for both Callum and Ellis to follow her outside, looking more proud to show off Callum’s magic than he was.

The two of them followed, with Ava dragging behind a little. “Show her, Callum!”

He looked around a little, to find something he could do with his magic, and saw a wilted flower. Yeah, that would work. He walked over to it and raised his hand, preparing to draw a rune. **“Pluvia.”** A little cloud formed over the flower and began to rain on it. He stepped to the side and gestured toward the plant. “Tadaaa!” 

Rayla, Ellis, and Ava simultaneously blinked. What? He demonstrated magic, just like she said. “Callum, that has to be the most lame way you could have possibly shown her your magic.”

Ellis looked at it and smiled. “It’s.. Nice!” 

Dang right it was nice.

[~-~]

Upon the realisation that she, too, could possibly connect to the Moon Arcanum, she and Ava decided to make the trek up the Cursed Caldera with them. It wasn’t what they had expected, but it wasn’t unwelcome, either.

The trek up the mountain was much, much easier this time. Partially because they were older and stronger, but mostly because they knew all the dangers were actually fake. Well, mostly. The leech monster, though it was only a collection of thousands of leeches and not a giant monster, it was still a collection of thousands of leeches. Not a fun time for anybody.

This time their plan was a little different. Callum and Rayla were used to fighting side-by-side, so they pretty much took care of it while Ellis sat there in awe. Callum wasn’t sure how Ava felt about the whole situation, but she was probably impressed also. He wasn’t going to kid himself: He was impressed by his magic. Instead of _flash, woof, zap, slish-slash,_ it was more like _zappy-slish, Whooshy-slash, and more zappy-slish._ Callum wasn’t entirely satisfied with this plan, as it left off on a slish, when it obviously should have left off with a slash. He couldn’t really complain, though. It got the job done.

They made it up to the top of the Caldera in record time, stopping at the tree where they’d first met Lujanne.

“So you’ve returned.” A bright light shone on the hollowed tree; when it dissipated enough to see, she stood there, smiling at them. A knee-high Phoe-Phoe stood by her.

Ellis ran up to her and gave her a hug. “I missed you! Ava did too.” Ava barked to confirm.

Callum stood there a little awkwardly… Should… Should he give her a hug, too? He wasn’t super close to the moon mage, but, she’d saved their lives. “Uh… Hi.” He resisted the urge to facepalm.

Lujanne stood, and started walking towards the moon nexus. “Come, let’s go eat.” That was the other things. He’d be eating worms for the next… However long it took him to connect to the moon arcanum.

He and Rayla speed-walked to catch up to Lujanne. “So you’re probably wondering why we’re here.” Callum looked at Lujanne.

“Nope.” She just continued ahead.

“Um, so you know?”

“Yes. You want me to teach you moon magic. I’m sorry, Callum, but it just can’t be done! Humans can’t learn primal magic.”

Man, he was going to get tired of hearing that. But, he wasn’t tired of it yet. No, he’d been waiting to do this ever since he’d first connected to the sky arcanum. “Do you really think so?” He cracked his fingers, careful to not activate his zappy hands. He didn’t want to ruin the surprise. He could practically feel the grin coming from Rayla, and was probably wearing the same one.

“I know so. No human has ever been able to do primal magic: it’s simply not your destiny.”

His grin only grew wider. Dang it, at this rate, he was going to give it away. He steeled himself and let out an exaggerated sigh. “Oh, well. I guess I should just go home.” He ran forward and yanked off his jacket, whispering the words to himself. **“Manus, Pluma, Volantus.”** He took off without giving any of them a chance to object.

Sure, it was a little jerkish, but she kinda deserved it. He flew around for a little bit, before coming back and landing, gracefully where he took off from. Lujanne’s face was stoic, which was totally disappointing. “Really? That’s it? No reaction, or anything?”

Lujanne looked at him. “I always knew you could do it.” Callum let out a sigh, a real one this time.

Ellis, on the other hand, was totally awed. “You. Can. Fly?!” She ran up to him, her hands in fists bunched up in front of her chest. It was a pose he knew well: the hopelessly excited pose.

“Uh, yeah.” Hopefully, she wasn’t going to ask him to take her for a ride. It was something special he shared with Rayla, and kind of wanted to keep it that way.

“Can you take me for a ride?” Callum was sighing a lot today. How could he say no to Ellis while her eyes twinkled with wonder? It was almost as bad as puppy-dog eyes. Almost.

“Hey, I’m not just a taxi.” He looked to Rayla for help.

“Yeah, he’s my taxi.” He regretted looking to Rayla for help.

They made it up to the top of the Caldera before night fell, and they ate dinner. It was very… Nutritious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little bit of a lighthearted chapter to prepare for next chapter's struggles.


	17. Struggle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum struggles to learn the moon Arcanum.

Lujanne had told them they could start training the next morning. Callum doubted that she had any clue as to how to help them, though. He recalled the time he’d connected to the sky arcanum.

It was an abnormal event: it wasn’t the use of dark magic that caused the connection, though the events were related. If using dark magic caused a primal connection, then all dark mages would be primal mages, which didn’t seem to be the case. No, it was something else.

He’d had all the information floating around in his brain, just waiting to connect with each other. Why’d it click in place when he used dark magic? Apparently he’d fallen extremely ill shortly after using it. Perhaps it was because he’d been so opposed to using it, but did it anyway? He couldn’t say for sure.

At any rate, his mental turmoil cleared the way for an understanding of the sky arcanum. That had to be the key.

Rayla wrapped her arms around him. “What’re you thinking about?”

“Do you remember when I connected to the sky arcanum?”

She winced a little. He didn’t blame her, though. From what he heard from her, he had almost died. “Yeah.”

“I keep thinking about how that happened, and whether I’ll be able to replicate it.” He wore a worried look.

“It’ll be fine, Callum. Worrying about it isn’t gonna help.”

“Okay, you’re right. We should get some rest, anyway.” He turned and gave her a kiss. “Goodnight, Ray.”

She smiled. Jokes aside, it seems that she was fine with that one pet name, at least. “Goodnight.”

…

Everything was not fine. They’d been there for weeks, and he felt no closer to understanding the moon arcanum. He tried his best to listen to Lujanne’s lessons, but it didn’t want to sink in. “What is that supposed to mean? ‘Accepting that you can never see the true reality.’ She says that, but then turns around and tells me to realise that ‘there’s always a truth behind every ruse.’” He was pacing around his room now, rubbing his temples. 

Rayla seemed worried about him, but he kept pacing. “It just… doesn’t make sense. I even tried to meditate in the nexus during the full moon, but… Nothing.” He flopped down on the bed next to Rayla.

“It’s okay, Callum. There’s no need to rush this.” She laid down with him. “This is nice, too.”

He smiled warmly at her. She always managed to make his problems melt away. But, it wasn’t permanent. She just kind of distracts him from it, like… an illusion. Ironic.

“I mean, Ellis is close: I can tell. She’s got all the signs I showed when I was about to connect with the sky arcanum. She just needs a push.” Rayla frowned a little. “But this… Doesn’t feel right. Like nothing she’s saying is getting through.”

She sat up, seeming resolved about something. “Okay. Let’s go try something.” She held out her hand, so Callum grabbed it.

“Where are we going?” Callum asked, slightly concerned. Rayla had never really helped him much with his magic: She was pretty awful at magic. Not to mention, tonight was the night of the new moon. She should probably--definitely be resting.

“We’re gonna go to the nexus.” She dragged him the whole way up, and they stopped before the lake. “It’s a new moon. You can’t see the moon, at all. Right?”

Callum nodded. Normally, someone else wouldn’t be able to see it, but Rayla had improved night vision.

“But, the moon’s still there. Why can’t we see it?”

“I don’t know.” Why couldn’t they see it? It was being obscured by… Something. Maybe? What if it wasn’t being obscured, but, rather, it just wasn’t shining. Why would that happen? He just didn’t know. He didn’t know if he could ever figure it out.

Rayla saw that he was struggling, and pulled him close. “You see, I don’t really know either. And that’s okay. Some things are mysterious, by nature.”

Wait, she didn’t understand the moon? Wasn’t that the whole point? Then it hit him. No, it wasn’t the point. He thought back to Lujanne’s lessons. She wasn’t trying to teach him to understand the moon. She was trying to prepare him for the inevitability of his struggle. His personality wouldn’t allow him to simply give up on learning, and therefore, she knew he’d have a hard time learning this particular arcanum.

That was it: the breaking point. He felt it, all crashing in on him like a tidal wave. He felt faint, as if there was a part of him which was missing. He stepped back, away from Rayla, and fell into the lake of the Moon Nexus.


	18. Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum's memory comes to life. Lujanne was hiding something from him.

It was dark. He faced the surface of the water and his nose burned as water entered it. He closed his eyes, and saw, no, felt his memories fly by him. He saw his family: Mom, Dad, Ez, all together and happy. His mother turned to him.

Tears flowed from Callum’s cheeks. Weird. He thought he’d run out. “Why, mom. Why did you have to leave? We could have been fine.” They could have been together, and she’d be alive. She would have loved Rayla, too.

His mom stepped from his memory and stood in front of him. “It’s okay. It’s okay.” The memory faded behind her. “Even if you don’t understand, it’s okay.” She reached for his shoulders. “You can keep going. You can move on. You can live.” Her right hand left his shoulder and found its place on his cheek. “You can accept everything, even if it’s not real.” 

He knew that she wasn’t truly there, but the warmth of her hand on his cheek felt so real. He brought his left hand to her right, where it still cupped his cheek. “I… I love you, mom.”

“I love you, too. Now, you need to breath.”

“What?” She was fading away before him.

“Breath.”

His eyes shot open to find himself on the ground, with his head laying in Rayla’s lap. Her hand was cupped to his cheek. They were both drenched.

“Callum, you’re… You’re back!”

This was looking… Exceedingly familiar.

“What… happened?”

“You fell in the lake and nearly drowned. I’m so, so sorry for bringing you out here in the dark, Callum.” She hugged him tighter. “I’m so so--”

Callum pressed his finger to her lips. “It’s okay. And it wasn’t for nothing, either.”

He sat himself up, and Rayla tilted her head to the side. “You mean…?”

He could see everything around him. From Rayla’s face to the rocks on the ground, he could see. He stood up and walked over to edge of the lake, to Rayla’s slight discomfort. “Yup.”

He readied his hand to draw the rune he had in mind. Feel it. He resolved to himself. It was okay that he was ignorant, but he wouldn’t give up trying to reach the truth, whatever it may be. His hand moved and he muttered the words. **“Lunae Lumen.”** A tiny ray of light shone from his palm; he turned to Rayla, grinning. “I’ve got the moon arcanum.”

[~-~]

Callum’s connection was unique. It was nothing like Lujanne had ever seen. Admittedly, she’d also never seen a human with a connection to a primal source, but that was beside the point. It seemed to lack the gleam that she was used to seeing from other moonshadow elves. The connection was certainly there, just hidden.

Was it because he made the connection while under the new moon? Moonshadow elves are always born under the light of the moon. Those born during a new moon never made it.

She wasn’t sure if it would change the way his magic took form, or if his magic would be weaker. It was all new to her, which wasn’t something that had happened often.

She hoped to understand it, but wouldn’t be surprised if she couldn’t. After all, it was another of the world’s great mysteries.

[~-~]

“We can’t do a moonbeam. If we did, it’d be fake.” Callum’s excitement didn’t faulter. Of course it would be fake. It’d Still be cool.

Whenever he thought about learning new magic, he felt light as the air; that was something he had before connecting to the sky arcanum. This particular lesson, however, wasn’t entirely entertaining. He’d done his share of meditating on the sky with Ibis, and now he was doing it with Lujanne.

Meditation with Lujanne was… Less fulfilling. First of all, the sessions were always at night, so Callum found himself falling asleep instead of meditating. Secondly, it’s all they ever did. When they first arrived at the Moon Nexus, they at least learned a few very basic spells, like the one Callum had used when he’d connected with the moon. Now, it seemed like all she would teach him was meditating, and cryptic messages he wasn’t sure he’d ever understand.

“Well, I think meditation is fun.” Ellis spoke up. Soon after Callum made his connection, Ellis followed. It was much like he’d said: all she needed was a push. Apparently, he had been in the same boat without even realising it.

“That’s mostly because you don’t really meditate, you just ask questions the whole time. Not complaining, just observing.”

Ellis smiled smugly. “How do you know I’m not meditating? What if I’m just meditating in a way you can’t tell?” She was becoming more like her tutor every day. It was super annoying.

Lujanne opened her eyes. “I suppose that concludes our lesson, for today.” She stood up and motioned for them to do the same.

Ellis promptly left, eager to go to sleep, but Callum stayed for a bit. “Lujanne, I really appreciate you teaching us and everything, but… When are we gonna learn how to do more magic?”

She sighed, as if anticipating this very question. “Well, Callum, I should be honest with you. Rayla insisted.” She smiled at him. “I’ve been teaching Ellis without you.”

“What? Why?” He was immediately on the defensive. He knew that it was probably an overreaction, but this was important. If he didn’t learn magic, and if Claudia didn’t find a solution, they couldn’t save all the people Viren trapped.

“You see, Ellis connected to the moon during a normal lunar phase. You connected during a new moon.” He made a face that said ‘What does that have to do with anything?’ Lujanne read it and returned one that prompted him to be patient. “The connection of a Moonshadow elf depends on the lunar phase during which they’re born. They also die if they are born during a new moon.”

Callum was shocked. They just… died? What did that mean for his connection? Not only was it unique in that he was a human, but it was also unique in that he was the only one who could possibly hold this connection without dying. Definitely weird.

That still didn’t quite answer why she wasn’t teaching him magic, however. She seemed to read his thoughts, and said, “With such a connection, I’m not sure how your body would handle performing large magical feats. I’m sorry, Callum.”

So. She wouldn’t teach him?

Callum thanked her and headed back towards his room. Moon magic was the second kind he’d wanted to learn. This was a total bummer.

When he got back to his room, he decided he’d get into contact with Ezran. One of the few spells he’d learned here was similar to the assassin's magic arrow spell. He wrote a letter detailing the recent events that occured at the Nexus, and sent it off. **“Libera.”**

The cool thing was that a non-magical person could return the letter.

It was not long when Callum received the letter back. It simply read, “Claudia’s got an idea.”


	19. Goodbyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum and Rayla say goodbye to the Moon Nexus.

“Callum, are you sure?” Rayla asked.

“Yeah. Lujanne won’t teach me magic because of my connection, and more importantly is that we might be able to get your parents out.” Callum decided to leave the moon nexus. He wasn’t really mad at Lujanne, but he was frustrated that he wasn’t going to be able to learn moon magic from her.

She placed her hand on his shoulder. “I… don’t want to interrupt your training for this. I can go back on my own.”

Callum had to stifle a laugh at that. “Rayla, you know I can’t do this without you. I don’t want to. We’ll go together.” She smiled at him for that. “We should go say goodbye. I can fly us back to the castle.”

The pair held hands as they marched up the stairs to say their goodbyes.

They entered Lujanne’s house. “Lujanne, this is kind of sudden, but something came up. We have to leave.” She looked up from her meditation, her face remaining stoic.

“I know. I wish the both of you well on your journey. You are welcome here whenever you’d like to return.” She turned back and continued to meditate.

Ellis was next. Callum kind of dreaded this moment. Her skills of persuasion were almost on par with Ezran’s. Rayla walked up to Ellis’s door and knocked. “Ellis? We’re leaving soon. We’re here to say goodbye.”

She was immediately at the door, with Ava in tow. “What? Why are you leaving so soon?” She turned to Callum. “Don’t you need to learn moon magic?”

Callum’s eye twitched a little. “Lujanne won’t teach me. Besides, there’s something important we need to do.”

Ellis looked back to Rayla, who gave her a patient smile. She sighed and moved to give them both a hug. “Okay. We’ll miss you guys. Come back and visit sometimes, okay?”

Both Callum and Rayla nodded to her.

That’s it. Goodbyes are done. It’s time to set off. They had a mission to accomplish.

[~-~]

“I can’t believe you.” Claudia looked at Callum desperately. He scowled back. “You get a chance to fix this, and you still can’t pry yourself away from using dark magic for everything.”

They had returned to Katolis in a rush once they got Ezran’s message. ‘Claudia’s idea’ had been to give up searching for an alternate solution and just break the spell with dark magic. No one would be happy with that, including the coins’ current prisoners.

“You don’t get it, Callum. It’s impossible.” He turned away. He’d already done the ‘impossible.’ Twice. “This spell… it’s something that’s already hard to reverse, and that’s using dark magic. There’s no way to do this without it.”

“You’re wrong.” Callum himself had an idea, but… It wasn’t something he was willing to do if he wasn’t sure it would work. But, they were running out of options. The only people who could possibly come up with another solution were either frozen in a block of ice, or so hell bent on using dark magic that she wouldn’t even consider another solution.

“Claudia,” He continued. “Dark magic takes the magical essence from creatures that have a connection, yes?” She nodded to him in response. She had a mixture of curiosity and excitement on her face. “Well…” He looked at his feet. He didn’t know much about dark magic, but he knew this would probably work. “I have two primal connections. You can use me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a pretty short chapter. I could probably continue on with it, but I like the dramatic tension at the end of it, so I let it be. Expect the next chapter to be longer!


	20. Sacrifice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> GRAPHIC GORE WARNING: If you're easily triggered by graphic descriptions of gore, please ignore this chapter. I'll catch you up next chapter.
> 
> Callum decides what he's willing to give up for the sake of Rayla's Parents.

A look of concern shot across Claudia’s face, as if she was going to object immediately. Instead, she stood there, looking up, thoughtful. “That… could work.” She thought about it more and the longer she stood there, the more excited she looked. Eventually, her excitement reached its peak, and she did the little pointy-nose thing she always does when she’s got a solution to a problem.

It was relatively short-lived, however. “Are… you sure? To do this, I’m gonna have to do some experimentation, and… it may not be the most pleasant week for you.” Callum snorted. Obviously it wouldn’t be pleasant.

“Yeah. I’ve thought a lot about this. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to bring them back.” Tears prickled the back of his eyes. No, not now. I thought I was over this. He calmed himself, and resolved to go through with it.

“Okay. We’ll get started right away. I think that I’ve got some books that talk about how elves can be… Yeah. That’s as good a start as anything.” At least she was getting better. Before, she wouldn’t have shown a shred of guilt at that statement.

“Okay. We’ll start tomorrow.”

[~-~]

Rayla was indignant. “What do you mean, use _you?_ ” This was worse, way, way worse than using some random slug. 

“Listen, I thought it through, and--”

“ _Thought it through_? What happened to finding another solution? What happened to ‘no dark magic?’” He held up his hands, as if to calm her down, but she wouldn’t have it. How could he just up and change like this?

“Ray--”

“Don’t you Ray me, Callum. This isn’t worth your life.”

“It won’t cost my life. Please, just sit down and talk to me.”

She wanted to walk away, to spit at him and recluse from it. But, that’s not how they did things. “Okay, fine.”

They sat down on their bed, right next to each other. “I promise, this won’t hurt me.” He pulled her into a hug. “The most it’ll cost is some blood, some hair… I think.”

She pulled away. “ _You think?_ ” He sighed. She was the one who was supposed to be sighing. “Listen, Callum. I’m not gonna stop you from going through with this, but I don’t approve. Just… please, please make sure that you don’t hurt yourself. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.”

He just smiled at her. “I promise.” Why’d she have to fall in love with such a dumb, selfless human?

[~-~]

Apparently, he had lied. This hurt like hell. It started off with small samples: nails and hair, and started to get more drastic as time went on. Currently, he was letting some of his blood drain into a vial Claudia had prepared. He held a permanent wince on his face through the whole ordeal. 

“Okay, that’s enough.” He pulled his hand back, quickly covering the self-inflicted wound and wrapping it in bandages, rather sloppily, he noticed. Claudia picked up the blood vial guiltily, and sealed it. “Here, let me help you.”

He held out his hand and let her wrap it in bandages. He didn’t think it would go this far, but now he figured it wouldn’t stop for a while. It had been a week already, and so far, the results have been less than optimal. For starters, the samples were too small, as Callum’s connections to the primal sources were relatively new, and hadn’t really manifested physically yet.

“Callum… I don’t want to suggest this, but... I know something that would work.” He perked up as she finished tying up his bandage. “If this blood doesn’t work… then… we could… take a finger? Like, I don’t know, that’s not a good idea.”

Callum looked at his hand. He thought of his promise to Rayla. He also thought of what it must be like in those coins. He already knew the answer. “I’ll do it.” She looked up at him. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”

…

Just as they had feared, Callum’s blood wasn’t enough. He would need to give up some part of his body so that Viren’s prisoners could go free. He sighed. How could he tell Rayla? He had to, no matter how much he dreaded it. He walked to their room. It seemed like they were spending less and less time together these days. Well, that was mostly because he was working with Claudia all day every day, and Rayla couldn’t bear to watch it.

“Ray, can I talk to you?” If she was concerned, she hid it well.

She snorted. “Of course. Since when did you need permission?” She patted the spot next to her on the bed.

He sat down hesitantly. “We’re gonna have to use larger samples. I know what I said, but… We’re so close, Ray. This last one is it.”

He could feel her breath on his arm. “What… is it?”

He looked at her, slowly. He wanted so badly to look cheerful, but he couldn’t muster the strength. Not when she looked at him so worriedly. “My… my fingers. I have to give up two fingers.”

She looked him in the eye. “No.”

“What?”

“I said, No. You promised me, Callum. You said you wouldn’t get yourself hurt.”

She was on her feet now, backing away from him. “Rayla, wait, I--”

She got to the door, through it open, and ran.

Callum sighed. Why did it have to be this way?

[~-~]

Rayla didn’t know why she ran, or what she was really running from. Why did he have to be this way? He’d give up anything, his life to make her happy, but she didn’t want it. She wanted him to be happy just as much as he did her.

It wasn’t until she snapped out of her thoughts that she heard the familiar sound of wings beating in the distance. “Callum, just leave me alone.”

He flew alongside her, before dispelling his wings and catching her. “Never.” He had a determined glint in his eye: she wasn’t gonna get away from this.

“Why, Callum? Why do you think have to sacrifice yourself to make me happy?” He looked at her sadly.

“Heh. Now you’re starting to sound a lot like me. I guess I took one too many pages from your book, too.” He looked down. “My parents are dead. Gone. Never coming back.” He looked back up at her, the glint gone, now replaced with sadness. “But Rayla… Your parents can come back. You can have parents, you can appreciate them. And… maybe… if I’m being honest… If your parents are anything like you, I think they’ll accept me, and it’ll kind of be like…” Oh, Callum.

She pulled him into a tight embrace. “I... I understand. I’m sorry for running away, I know how much this means to you.” She planted a kiss on his cheek. “I love you. But you’re not doing this alone.”

He looked up at her, his tears now flowing freely. How could she have let him go this far without her? “I love you, Rayla.”

[~-~]

They had resolved their issues that night. They would face everything together. Rayla wanted to give up one of her fingers as well, but Claudia said it wouldn’t work. Something about conflicting arcanums. Both of the samples needed to be identical. 

Callum sat there, on a bed. He was surrounded by the people that loved him: Rayla, Ezran, Soren, Claudia, and, Opeli was there, he supposed.

“Are you really sure you want to go through with this? There’s no way to go back.” Rayla took his hand. 

“Yeah.” They were just fingers: just his pinkies, in fact. “Besides, when this is all done and over with, we can match!” He grinned up at Rayla. She rolled his eyes at him, still wearing a worried look.

Ezran looked disapproving of this whole situation: he’d have to have a talk with him later.

Claudia cleared her throat, ready to begin. “Okay. This is happening. Here’s how it’s gonna go.” She’d already set everything up. “Since we don’t want to waste any time, we’re going to have to use the… samples here and now. If we don’t, they may lose their power.” Callum still couldn’t believe that his very body held power like this.

Everyone who wasn’t there to help with the operation stepped back and let the people who were get to work. There were nurses and a doctor. The best tool they had access to was a saw. Callum was apprehensive, to say the least. “Guys, this isn’t gonna be pretty. You should go. I’ll talk to you afterword.” Everyone but Rayla complied. Right. She was gonna stay here and watch him suffer.

Honestly, if situations were reversed, he’d be in more pain watching Rayla get hurt. Not that having one’s pinkies removed was a pleasant experience. 

He loved Rayla. She was there, crying by his side, whispering encouragement to him through it all. With every wave of pain came a tidal wave of comfort. She was crying more than he’d ever seen, and in front of all these other people.

After what felt like years of painful grinding, blood splurting: feeling his bones being bored through, the job was done. The nurses quickly bandaged him up: fortunately, the procedure hadn’t taken as long as it felt, and he hadn’t lost too much blood.

The doctor looked at him with sullen eyes, and handed his fingers over to Claudia.

As painful as the experience was, Callum didn’t let out a single scream, though his pained breaths were more than enough to show just how much suffering he was dealing with.

Claudia took the samples, still dripping crimson, and got to work. **“Won sluos nwo ruoy erusaert!”** A brilliant light show burst from her hands and into the coins laying on the floor before her. Callum somehow managed to stay awake through it all; he’d wanted to see the fruits of his labor.

The light radiated brighter and brighter and Callum felt like he lost a piece of himself. It was worth it, however; he opened his eyes as they recovered from the light, and saw ten people standing there, in the places the coins had been.

They’d done it. Rayla left his side, probably without realising it. “M… Mom? Dad?”

Callum fainted as she ran forward to greet her lost parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not super experienced in describing super painful experiences: hope I did a decent job. Thanks for reading!


	21. Big Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum recovers from the operation: Rayla's family is rude.

Callum woke up in a noisy room. His hands pulsed steadily with light pain. That much was expected. 

There were voices, familiar and unfamiliar, and they seemed to be arguing about something… About him? He decided to keep his eyes shut and listen.

“So what? I love him, and he loves me!” That voice sounds like Rayla. She’s upset.

“Humans have been our enemies for hundreds of years, Rayla. You can’t know him as well as you say.” And that sounds like that jerk from the castle roof. What was his name? Runaan. Her mentor.

“No. You’re the one who doesn’t know humans as well as you think. He’s saved my life more times than I can count!”

“That may be true, but what if he had an ulterior motive?” This was a different voice. Male. Her father? “Humans have always been greedy and selfish. There’s no way he--”

_“Shut up!_ He cut off his fingers so he could bring you back! I can’t believe this.”

Callum heard Runaan grumble.

“Besides. You weren’t there. The Battle at the Storm Spire was awful.” Callum shuddered at the very thought of it. “Katolis’s high mage--the same one that captured you all--had gone rogue. He turned the five armies into monsters with Lux Aurea’s primal stone and assaulted the spire. It was only a distraction, though, and he made it to the top, where I was. He froze me in place and chased Zym to the top, where he started to drain his power. When I got free, I couldn’t stop him, so…” She sighed. Callum didn’t blame her: this whole ordeal still gave them both nightmares unless they were together. “I tackled him off of the storm spire.”

Gasps rang out around the room. “You… _Jumped from the storm spire?”_

Rayla softly replied. “Yes.” Callum felt her gaze on him, somehow. “But Callum saved me. He jumped off after me, even though he knew he would probably die.” Callum heard footsteps moving toward him, followed by his sheets moving around a little bit.

Rayla grabbed his arm gently and moved it out from under the covers. Callum tried his absolute hardest to remain limp as if he was still sleeping. “Look. This is what he did to his arms when he cast the mage wing spell to save me. He’d never done it before.”

There was more mumbling, seeming to be considering this new development. All of a sudden, someone burst in the door. “Hey. My brother’s the coolest, most selfless person you’ll ever meet.” Ezran. “You can’t talk about him like that, especially not when he hurt himself to save you.

“Silence, boy. This does not concern you.” It was Runaan again. That’s it. He totally crossed the line with that.

Callum sat up, probably more quickly than he should have, and cleared his throat. He allowed his anger through a bit. “Hey. You can talk about me all you like, but leave my brother out of this.” He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, powering the static energy under the covers to give it a little bit of a boost. If nothing else, Callum was pretty good at intimidating people.

“Callum, I’m sorry, we should go somewhere else.” Rayla stood to put him back in the bed.

“Nah, Ray. I’ve got enough sleep. I need some fresh air.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek before walking towards the door. When he reached for the metallic handle, a jolt of electricity struck his hand, not that he really felt it. He opened the door, making sure not to use the finger closest to where his pinkie had been, and looked at his brother, who was slightly gaping. Guess he’d never seen the zappy hands before. “Would you like to go for a walk, _King Ezran?”_

He seemed to catch on immediately. “Sure, _Prince Callum._ ” They stepped out the door, and Callum closed it behind them, not before shooting them a glare.

“Hey, are you okay?” Ezran looked at him. “I can’t believe that they treat you like that after everything you’ve done for them.”

“Nah, Ez. It wasn’t so bad. I didn’t do it for me, anyway. It was for Rayla, so as long as they accept her, I’m fine.”

Ezran glared at him. When did he learn to do that? “Callum, since when do you lie to me? You passed out from the pain. People describe amputation as the most painful thing they’ve ever done, and yet you call it nothing. Please, really, talk to me.”

His persuasive skills had only improved during Callum’s time away. “You…” He sighed. “Have always been a sharp kid. Especially when it comes to feelings.” He stopped in front of the door to the courtyard. A couple of guards moved to join them. “It’s okay, I’ve got him.”

The one to his left looked confused. “But sir, you’re injured…”

“I’ve got it.” Callum snapped. Man, he never used to be this cranky. The guards obeyed and the two stepped into the courtyard.

“So… tell me what’s bothering you.”

Callum sighed, once again. “So, obviously my hands hurt. A lot. So I’m pretty cranky about that.” He looked at Ezran, who was walking next to him, patiently waiting for him to continue. “And I guess I’m a little upset about how Rayla’s parents don’t like me, just because I’m a human.”

Ezran raised an eyebrow. “A little?”

Callum left the path and motioned for his brother to follow. “Yeah,” He flopped down on the grass, looking at the sky. “I guess it bothers me a lot. I mean, I don’t even know them, but I gave up part of my body so that they could be free.” Suddenly, Callum realised that he hadn’t seen the other people from the coins. “What about the others?”

Ezran sat up, excited. “They’re recovering just fine! Some are older than others, and some…” He slumped a little. “Have been stuck for a really, really long time. Like, before Xadia got split in half.”

Holy crap. That had to be hundreds of years. Were the coins an heirloom? “I should go see them later.” He watched the clouds for a while longer, in silence. Then, Ezran lightly elbowed him. “Right, right. Anyway, I think I understand why elves hate dark magic so much.” Ezran turned and looked at him, concerned. “Even after they cut my pinkies off, I still felt like they were a part of me. It think it’s because of my arcanums.” He tore his eyes away from the moving clouds to look Ezran in the eye. “But when Claudia used them, it felt like they were gone, and a piece of me went with them.”

Ezran sat up, and stared off into the distance. “Maybe this whole thing was a bad idea.”

“Nah, Ez. I wouldn’t take it back. These people deserved to go free.” He stood up, and held his hand out to his brother. Instead of taking it, Ezran grabbed his wrist, being careful as to not disturb his injured hand. 

“Thanks.” He said quietly. They walked for a little bit before Ezran cleared his throat. “What else?” This kid was too sharp for his age.

“We’re gonna have to leave, pretty soon. Rayla’s parents aren’t gonna want to stay in Katolis. The first thing is to bring them back to the Silvergrove, and I… Well, if my fiance’s parents hate me because I’m a human, I hate to think of what her community will think of me.” It wasn’t really what they thought of him that mattered: he’d gotten over weird looks when he proposed to Rayla. However, the possibility of physical altercations with her friends and family worried him.

“Well, I think they’ll come around eventually. Once they see how awesome you are, they can’t possibly hate you for long.” Well, it’s not proper to doubt your king.

“Thanks, Ez. You always make me feel better.”

Ezran giggled. “All in a day’s work for _King Ezran,_ harbinger of kindness!”

They entered the castle the same way they came in, giving Callum a chance to apologize for his earlier behavior. Maybe everything would turn out okay, after all.

[~-~]

Rayla was as mad as Callum looked. She was mad enough at herself for letting Callum suffer for her parent’s sake, but for them to hate him for it? Unbelievable.

“You were never a big enough part of my life to try and influence me now. I can’t believe that you’re being like this.” She folded her arms. Seriously, how hard was it to forget the fact that he’s got no horns and a couple extra fin--wait, that one doesn’t apply anymore. She winced at that.

“Well, I have. He’s tricking you, Rayla. Prince Ezran was our target, and you went on some ridiculous adventure while we stayed and died. The humans killed the rest of our team, Rayla! How can you so easily forget that?” Was he being serious?

“You have got to be joking. You were there to kill their king, Runaan! How could they not defend themselves? You’re so full of hate, I’m starting to regret ever helping you get out of those coins. All of you.” She then left, not wanting to see her family’s hurt expressions. As she did, though, Callum was just about to open the door, so she accidentally smacked him with it. 

“Oh my-- Callum, are you okay?”

He laid on the floor, his nose bleeding a little. “Just peachy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeez, Callum's got some anger issues in this story... I think it's pretty justified, though.


	22. Rough Relations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group leaves to bring three moonshadow elves home.

Tiadrin and Lain were astonished. It was true that they hadn’t really been there for much of their daughter’s life, especially because of the coins, but… For her to say that she wished they were still trapped… Maybe they had really been too hard on her fiance.

Runaan, on the other hand, still held an intense hate which could not be sated. He’d seen what that mage could do firsthand. He’d been just like every story he’d ever heard about humans. They all had to be just as evil and conniving as Viren was. He just needed to prove it.

[~-~]

Weeks later, they were ready to leave. Well, Callum wasn’t really ‘ready’ to leave, but he would go anyway. Since they’d been released from the coins, Rayla’s parents had started to warm up to him, which was nice. Runaan, on the other hand, continued to leave a sour taste in his mouth, as if he was trying to find some kind of flaw.

Well, whatever. Runaan didn’t need to like him. Callum didn’t like Runaan, either.

He did love Rayla, though, and that meant getting along with him, as much as possible.

“I love you, Callum. Make sure you send plenty of those letter-delivering things.”

“Love you too, Ez. I will.” He was sad to leave his home once again, especially since the next week or so of travel wouldn’t be the best. His hands had all but completely healed, and no longer required bandages. On the other hand, he’d have to deal with Runaan the entire way. Callum was no stranger to constant ridicule, but he wasn’t exactly a fan of it.

The group took off, receiving odd looks from the townsfolk. Runaan wore his standard scowl, but Lain and Tiadrin seemed interested in how much the world had changed since they’d been gone.

Rayla looked… Worried. “Ray, are you alright?” She snapped out of her daze and looked at him. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little worried about going back to the Silvergrove. Everyone here’s ghosted except for Runaan, and, uh, you. But, you don’t have a key, so you don’t really count.” That’s right. Rayla’s people still didn’t accept her back, even after Ethari expressed her reasons for leaving her mission. Maybe they hated humans as much as Runaan. Hopefully not. He just so happened to be one of those.

Callum grabbed her hand, now missing the perfect grip they once shared. It was still nice, but different.

Night fell not long after they departed, since Ezran liked to sleep in, and both Callum and Rayla were adamant about saying goodbye.

As they were setting up tents, Runaan approached Callum directly. “You. You’re sleeping with me.”

What? Callum would normally take this as a joke, but Runaan didn’t exactly seem like the humerus type. “Um… Are you being serious?”

“Yes. You will not sleep alone in a tent with Rayla.” Callum mentally face-palmed. And again. And one more time.

“Yes, he will.” Rayla spoke up. “You don’t get to decide sleeping arrangements.”

“I can and will. As your guardian and superior, you will not sleep with him.”

“Well. Since I’m a ghost, I think you count as neither.”

That stopped him, but not for long. “When I get back, I’ll convince them to unghost you, but my orders still stand.”

This was not what Callum envisioned when he freed them from their coins. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Rayla was unhappy, which made the whole ordeal feel pointless. It wasn’t, and he knew that, but still. “Hey, Ray?” She turned and looked at him, still wearing an angry expression. “It’s okay. I’m sure it’ll be fine. Maybe you can use this time to catch up with your parents?” 

He looked at her desperately. Really, anything other than this would be preferable. Well, not anything.

Her expression softened when she read his. “Fine.” She looked towards her mentor. “But if anything happens to him tonight, there’ll be hell to pay.” There wasn’t a drop of humor in her voice.

It wasn’t like he was helpless, but that didn’t mean he wanted to get in a fight with the person who taught Rayla all that she knows.

He moved over to where Runaan had started to set up his tent. “Don’t touch it. Just go and find something else to do.” Who the hell shoved the stick so far up his--Well, he knew the answer. Viren had crushed every ounce of respect Runaan may have had for humanity. He hadn’t tried to kill Callum yet, so that much was a plus.

Hours later, everyone was ready to sleep. Well, Callum was less than excited, but ready nonetheless. He sauntered toward the tent and Runaan followed. What did he want? To keep an eye on him? Callum couldn’t help but feel a little apprehensive about sharing a tent with someone who probably wanted to kill him.

When he entered the tent, though, they both just got their bags and went to bed. Callum had formed the habit of sleeping with his bag open: that way, he could roll out of his easily.

Huh. He was sleeping mere feet away from the man who had murdered his father. He didn’t really know how to feel about it. On one hand, the fact that Callum was still alive showed much, much improvement over their previous relations. On the other, Runaan still hated his guts, and he couldn’t help but reciprocate. 

With the comforting sounds of Rayla’s laughter through the thin tent walls, it didn’t take long for sleep to grasp him.

The sounds of rustling tent fiber woke him soon after he fell asleep: sleeping lightly was another skill he picked up during his time traveling. He didn’t want to open his eyes, so he just listened to the air. He saw a figure--Runaan--holding something. He was turned towards Callum, but he couldn’t see much else, since the air was stagnant in the tent. That was, until Runaan reared the object in his hands, and began to swing it towards Callum. Thank you, open sleeping bag.

He rolled out of the attack and quickly drew the fulminis rune, letting the power flow, but not saying the words. “What the hell. Were you seriously just gonna attack me while I slept?”

“You’re a threat. Rayla can’t see it, Tia and Lain can’t see it, but I can. I’m just dealing with it, even if they hate me for it.” There’s another mental face-palm.

“Look. Just stop. I’m gonna sleep outside, so go back to sleep, and we can forget that this ever happened.”

“Ha. Now you’re begging for your life. I’ll make this quick.”

Callum rolled his eyes and picked up his sleeping bag. “Quiet. Rayla’s still sleeping.” He dodged Runaan’s overhead strike, moving closer to the exit of the tent. 

“If you think I’ll let you escape, you’re crazy.” Callum was getting closer and closer to actually facepalming. Runaan was a serious threat, but Callum was cranky.

“I’ve been so… nice to you! Will you just shut up and let me sleep?” He realised that his voice was raising to Rayla-rousing levels. He also realised that Runaan was past the point of bargaining.

He rushed at Callum once again, but Callum simply deactivated his spell and stepped outside. **“Magus, Pluma, Volantus.”** He flew off, to find a tree somewhere he could sleep in. It wasn’t really a big deal: the cold didn’t bother him since he had the sky arcanum.

Runaan really didn’t want him to escape. His swords clicked together and he grabbed an arrow from the quiver that Callum hadn’t noticed. “Hey, that’s really cool--” A flying arrow cut him off. “You jerk.” He didn’t throw the word around lightly, but this was a special circumstance.

Screw the tree. He was gonna sleep on a mountain.


	23. Story Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're on the road!

Luckily, waking up early was one of the perks of living with an ex-assassin. It wasn’t often that Callum woke up before her, but it was enough for him to get back without making the party wait for too long.

Unfortunately, Rayla just happened to be standing there waiting for him. “Hey, Ray. Just getting back from a morning flight.”

She raised an eyebrow, seeming unimpressed. “With… your sleeping bag?”

He looked at the bag in his arm. Curse his need for comfort! “Uh…”

“What happened, Callum?”

“I was, uh… Uncomfortable in that tent, so I decided to sleep in the open air.” It was also convenient that he wasn’t around when the nightmares started. That would have been kind of embarrassing. 

“Is that… it?” She looked at him expectantly.

He didn’t want to answer. He hated Runaan’s guts, especially after last night, but… He didn’t want to ruin Rayla’s relationship with her adopted father. He didn’t really want to lie to her, either, so… Distraction it is! “Hey, check out my wings.”

“Callum.”

“They look different now that I don’t have pinkies.”

“Callum, I…” She looked at his wings, shocked that he was actually telling the truth. “Oh no, does it change the way you fly?”

He resisted the urge to let out a sigh of relief. She bought it, for now. “Nah, it just looks different.” Callum watched out the corner of his eye as Runaan’s tent quickly slid shut.

It wasn’t long before they hit the road again. When they had traveled this way to bring Zym home, it was slower, because they had to make a bunch of pit stops for different reasons. They decided to skip going to the Moon Nexus, as Callum was still a little bit sore about that whole situation.

It was a long trip, and they didn’t have mounts, so conversation was the best pastime they could think of.

Rayla ended up ahead with Runaan, while Callum was back behind talking with her parents. Soon enough, they flanked him.

“So, Callum. I heard that conversation with Rayla this morning. What was that about?”

Callum flinched, but decided to play it cool. “O-oh yeah. My wings are a little different now. Wanna see?” Tia raised her eyebrow at him. He never was good at lying. Callum sighed. “Okay. You can’t tell Rayla about this, but…” Both of her parents frowned, and he realised that he chose the wrong way to start this story. “Woah, wait, don’t get the wrong idea. I slept on a mountain last night because I didn’t want to sleep with Runaan.”

Lain seemed to be able to tell that there was more to this story than Callum was letting on. “And why would you agree to sleep there if you didn’t want to?”

Callum sighed and looked up at Rayla talking to Runaan. The way she looked up to him. “I… don’t want to get in between Runaan and Rayla. That’s the exact opposite of the reason I did this whole thing.” He held up his hands and flexed his fingers to validate his point. “I figured I could suck it up for a night or two, if it made the both of them happy.”

Tia spoke up: “So what made you change your mind?”

What was this, an interrogation? “This is the part I can’t let Rayla know.” He hated to say that out loud. “Runaan tried to kill me last night.”

The two of them burst out laughing, causing Rayla to turn back and smile at him. Even now, she was encouraging him. They were her parents, and yet she was happy to let him have time with them. She was the best.

Tia and Lain took a while to calm down from their laughing fit, but when they did, they saw the stoic look on Callum’s face. “Oh. You weren’t joking, were you?”

“Not at all, actually.”

The two looked at each other, and sighed simultaneously. Tia’s the one who spoke first. “We’ll talk with him.”

No, that was the last thing they should do. “Wait. I can handle this on my own: he already thinks you guys are, like, under my spell or something. He thinks that killing me is a necessary evil. I’d like to prove him otherwise.”

They blinked. “Wait, so, you’re gonna keep dealing with constant death threats because… You want to prove a point?” Lain was baffled.

“Pretty much.” They looked at each other and burst out laughing once more.

“Well,” Tia said. “I wish you luck. Runaan’s never been easy to impress. If you need our help, don’t be shy.”

They continued in silence for a while, until their stomachs began to rumble. It was about noon, anyway. Lunch time.

Callum had brought a small stock of bread with him, while everyone else just drank moonberry juice. After all the time Callum had spent with Rayla, he’d never tried it. He would have to ask her sometime.

Even though they had spent a month in Katolis, Rayla’s parents never asked him too many questions, often opting rather to answer questions of his own. Mostly about magic, some about Rayla’s childhood, which, sadly, they lacked stories to tell.

Today, though, Lain had a question for him. “So, how did a human end up with a connection to the sky primal?” Uh oh. This might get complicated.

He had never told them about the one time he’d used dark magic, and hoped he’d never have to. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience, for anybody.

Thankfully, Rayla answered the question, with a bit more tact than he could have. “Well, Callum had been using a primal stone he’d stolen from Claudia.” They had met, obviously, as she was the one who cast the spell which set them free. “When Zym’s egg was dying, we figured out that the only way to save it was to hatch it. Callum broke his primal stone to release the storm which hatched Zym’s egg.”

“That still doesn’t answer the question, though.”

“I’m getting there!” She snapped. “Anyway, after we left the Moon Nexus, Callum worked tirelessly to forge his connection, even going out during a storm.”

Runaan spoke up. “That was a stupid decision.”

Callum tried not to scowl. “I figured that much out by the time I returned.”

Rayla looked back and forth between Runaan and Callum before continuing. “A little while later, some people hit a dragon out of the sky. I decided to save it, despite being grievously outnumbered.” It seemed that Rayla was too engrossed in the story to recognize the approaching elephant in the room. “I told Callum to stay back in the camp, but he came anyway and saved me.”

“How?” This time it was Lain who interrupted her.

“Oh, he stole Claudia’s book and…” The party’s eyes fell on him. Well, crap.

Runaan stood. “You used dark magic?”

Callum defensively held up his hands. “Yes. I didn’t have any other way to save Rayla, and that dragon.” Runaan didn’t have any room to argue with him. He sat back down, his arms folded.

Callum decided to take over the story from there. “After that, we headed back to the camp. I had a fever, which grew until I was hardly able to stand, or formulate legible sentences.”

The next part was a little tricky. He wasn’t sure if he even remembered everything correctly. “I’ve not really even told Rayla about this next part: it’s a little weird.”

He started. “So, I had this weird dream… I fell onto a pile of keys with the cube inside. It was glowing a distinct red color, and I knew that it was because I had used dark magic. Then, I threw it away, only to have it be caught by… Me. It was like… A different, evil version of me that tried to convince me to give up primal magic, and just use dark magic. I denied him, and that’s where things started to get weird.”

“That’s when things got weird?” Rayla smirked.

“Relatively. The next thing I knew, I was back on the ship with Villads. Spelled without the D.” He ignored their baffled expressions. “A storm came, and he told me to hoist the main sail; I told him that I didn’t know how, and then I was the sail.”

“You were right. That is pretty weird.”

“Then, the ship crashed, and I was alone on the waves, fighting to stay afloat. Then, everything kinda… zoomed out, and I was standing there, watching myself in the storm through the primal stone. I smashed it, but time reversed and I was standing there holding it again, so I watched myself drown. At the same time, I was drowning in the water. Then, everything, including the water disappeared, and… My mom was there.”

Tia playfully elbowed lain. “Hey, maybe I should try using dark magic. This sounds like some good shi--” Lain shushed her, motioning for Callum to finish his story.

“She managed to convince me to just breath. To let my body catch up with my mind. I think that’s when I woke up.” He looked up at the group, and they were all totally interested in his story. Even Runaan was gaping a little.

“When I woke up, I had the sky arcanum in me, and everything felt different. The air was alive, and everywhere. I tried to explain it to Rayla, but she didn’t seem to get it.”

“I still don’t get it.” She looked concerned, but increasingly interested in his story.

“Now that I think about it, a similar thing happened when I connected to the Moon Arcanum.”

“Yeah… I’ve been meaning to ask you about that.” Tia said. “We can sense your connection, but… It’s kind of like when a baby’s born on a new moon.” She and Lain shuddered.

“It’s because I made the connection on the new moon: Rayla helped me with that one.”

Rayla’s parents perked up, kind of like children who were excited about hearing of a surprise. “As much as I’d like to sit here and keep telling stories,” Rayla stood up. “We should really get going. We’ve got a bit of ground to cover if we’re gonna make it to Xadia before the end of the month. Story time’s over.

Callum was thankful. He didn’t think he wanted to talk about another fever dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanna say this cause I thought of it yesterday. So I think of dark magic like this: So your friend has a coupon that lets him get as many pizzas as he wants, whenever he wants. There are other people with this coupon, but you are not one of them. You think that you cannot get any pizza without a coupon, so you steal your friend's. You can't use the coupon, so in order to get your pizza, you trade the coupon to a shady back-alley dealer that gives you a pizza in exchange for the coupon.
> 
> Now, your friend can't get any pizza, and your pizza is already gone. Now, you have to go out and steal more coupons. 
> 
> Now imagine that in a society that totally worships pizza. That's my argument to the people that support the use of dark magic. It's not exactly cannon, but it makes sense to me.


	24. Consequence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A certain character faces the consequences for his actions.

Runaan had insisted that their sleeping arrangements remain the same that night. While Callum didn’t expect him to change his attitude overnight, Callum was baffled by his persistence. Truthfully, the previous night had been a fluke, most likely caused by Runaan’s time in the coin. After all, Callum sparred with Rayla regularly, and hadn’t won once.

Whatever. He would just go find somewhere else to sleep again if Runaan tried anything.

Callum was still incredibly confused about the reasoning for Runaan’s hate. Had Viren tortured him? If so, why didn’t he like Callum? After all, he’d been the one to take Viren down. Did he truly think ill of all humans because of one bad experience?

“Why?” Runaan asked him.

“Hm?”

“Why did you lie? You could have easily been rid of me by telling them what was happening.”

“I didn’t lie, per se, just avoided the question. But that’s beside the point: do you think I brought you guys back so that I could tear your family apart?” He looked up at the ceiling. The last thing he’d wanted was for Rayla to hate Runaan. No one should hate their parents. “I didn’t think I’d have to work to stop it from tearing itself apart, though.”

Runaan was shocked, but still wore his stoic, duty-bound face. “It’s your fault. If you love Rayla you’ll leave her.”

Yup. He was totally crazy. “Yes, that’s a great idea!” He smirked. He probably shouldn’t push it, but Rayla’d rubbed off on him. “I’ll just leave the love of my life and subject us both to endless nightmares. Great plan.”

Callum noticed that the corners of Runaan’s mouth threatened to turn up… into a smile? Was he capable of smiling? Maybe he was a sucker for sarcasm. “...Nightmares?”

Callum rolled his eyes. He didn’t want to talk about it, especially not with him, but maybe this would get through to him. “Yeah. When we’re apart we have nightmares. It’s been happening ever since the Battle at the Storm Spire.”

Runaan looked at him and took a step back. What? “You’re… Soulbonded?” Again, what?

“What does that mean?”

Runaan clenched his fists. “Get out.”

Callum complied, eying Runaan suspiciously as he left. It seemed that he was deep in thought.

He silently backed up from the tent and turned around, to find Rayla waiting for him. “Uh, hey… Ray.” It was slightly pronounced as a question.

“Excuse me. I made a promise.” Her eyes were determined.

“Wait, what? Hold on, you’re not gonna fight him, are you?”

“What? No. Why would I?”

“You said there’d be hell to pay if anything…” His voice trailed off.

She was looking at him, confused. Then, her face lit up with realisation. “Callum, what happened last night?”

He couldn’t lie to her face. But, he could tell her the truth far enough away for her to calm down before they got back. “Let’s go for a walk. Just you and me.”

“Callum, don’t change the subject.”

“I’m not, I’ll tell you while we walk.” He thought for a minute. “You know what? Why walk when we can fly?” He stepped forward and muttered the words before she could object. “Let’s go.”

She rolled her eyes. She hated it when he didn’t tell her everything. He hated it even more.

[~-~]

Runaan couldn’t believe it. Rayla’s nightmare the previous night… it wasn’t random at all. They were… souldbonded. It was a condition that was rare among elves: if partners held enough love for each other, their souls would become connected. They would share everything: even dreams.

They knew each other so well, they could actually tell what the other was thinking or feeling. It was a beautiful thing, but… For Rayla to soulbond with a human… He must be different, somehow. He would remain wary of him, but it couldn’t hurt to not kill him, right? 

No. Don’t make such rash judgements. Runaan might not be able to kill the boy now, because Rayla would literally lose a piece of her soul, but he was still a human. Who knows when he would take the piece of her soul that was so graciously given to him, and leave.

He would continue to monitor the boy.

[~-~]

How could he just… Put up with it? It was a marvel that he was even alive after the previous night, but he didn’t even say anything until now!

“Callum, it bothers me that you’re so okay with all this.” It really did. Maybe she would have been grateful a few months prior, but… Really, Callum meant more to her than Runaan did at this point. Putting himself in strenuous amounts of danger just so that she wouldn’t get mad at her mentor was… way, way over the line. 

“Really, it wasn’t that big of a deal. I promise.”

“No, a murder attempt is absolutely a big deal!” She wouldn’t forgive herself if Callum had died, much less the man who killed him. “Listen. You mean more to me than anything.” She leaned in closer. “Don’t take unnecessary risks. I mean it. Your hands were already way more than I was comfortable with. Don’t take it any further.”

She felt him sigh. She should be happy that Callum was willing to go to such lengths for him, but… When she said that Callum was her world, she meant it. If he was no longer there, then…

“Okay. I’m sorry for worrying you so much. It was pretty unthoughtful of me.”

She kissed the back of his ear: they were still flying, so she had restricted access to his face for the time being. “It’s fine, Callum. Just please… I couldn’t live without you.”

They started losing altitude. “Uh, Callum?”

“We’re fine, I just found a place to land.”

They touched down and took each other’s hands. The cold metal of his ring pressed against her skin. The only time she’d ever seen him without it had been the operation, and she was pretty sure that was to be sure it stayed clean. “Hey, Ray?”

She looked up at him. “Yeah?”

“I’m not asking you to forgive him, but…”

“Callum, no.”

“Give him another chance. Please. I don’t want this--” He held up his left hand. “To be worthless.”

His desperation for her to have a good relationship with her parents was understandable, but annoying. She sighed. “Even if I hated his guts, it wouldn’t be worthless. You set all those other people free. But, I’ll give him another chance, so long as he does the same for you.”

His lips twitched. Were they trying to frown? She hoped not.

They approached their camp, but heard rustling and growling coming from it. They both sprung into action immediately, Rayla drawing her blades while Callum readied a rune. Their camp was being raided by banthers. Their parents must have been asleep by now.

“I’ll try to scare them off.” Callum drew the rune, but looked at it, confused. “What?”

“Callum, use the spell, I don’t know how long before they notice us!”

“Right, right.” He cast the spell. **“Tonitrua!”** The invisible thunder crackled and scared them off. Additionally, it caused the other members of their party to wake up and investigate the origin of that sound.

“Was that you, Callum?” Lain stepped out, ready for battle. 

“Yeah, just scaring off some banthers. Sorry for the noise.” Concerned etched his face. Had something happened with his spell?

Runaan’s tent shut as abruptly as it opened. She moved to enter it, but Callum grabbed at her arm, his expression deepening. This couldn’t be good.

[~-~]

He drew the aspiro rune. There it was again! Normally, when he drew runes the rune was entirely the color of the primal source. Now, there was a thin black-purple streak through the middle of every mark he drew.

He waved it away. “What do you think?” She looked just as concerned as he felt.

“I… Don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like this before.” He turned back towards the cliff. They chose this spot so Callum could use his magic as much as he needed to figure out what was happening.

He drew the fulminis rune. Not wanting to let the discharges hit Rayla, he cast the spell immediately. “Fulminis.” Lightning shot from his hand, but… It was different. It felt… wrong. When he looked at it, it didn’t shine like the lightning he normally cast. It was dark.

“Rayla, this is…” His pinkies ached. Not his hand where they’d been, but… _His pinkies._ “This is wrong.” His eyes widened in fear. Had his decision been a bad one after all? He was ignorant to the nature of dark magic, and yet he was so willing to let his body be used as an ingredient.

Usually, dark magic used the body parts of a creature which was already dead. Either that, or it died in the process. This was… something new, and he didn’t like it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh, plot twist. Not the person you thought, right?


	25. The Silvergrove

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our heroes finally make it to the Silvergrove!

It was because of dark magic. He was sure of it. There was no other cause that he could think of.

“Rayla, I think we should get back to the Silvergrove as soon as possible.” He had a solution in mind… but it may have been worse than leaving it be. After all, there was no precedent for something like this. He was the only human to ever connect to a primal source, and he was also the only one who’d been used for dark magic and live. Wait, Pyrra had her horn used to create the new breach, right? Maybe she went through something similar. Maybe… It would be fine if he just left it?

“Or, maybe we should rest for a bit and make sure you’re okay.” While he would love a rest, it probably wasn’t the wisest course of action. 

“Ray, this didn’t happen a couple days ago. I think that it’s going to get worse progressively. We’ll watch it, but I think the best thing for us to do is to get to Xadia as quickly as possible.”

She frowned at him. “Alright.”

He would try to not use magic for the time being, which would be like trying not to touch your face. Nearly impossible.

[~-~]

This change of plans got them into Xadia considerably faster than they otherwise would have. They continued to move while eating, and, thankfully, Runaan seemed to have postponed his decision to kill him. They walked through the new breach which Viren created, as another encounter with Sol Regem seemed counterproductive.

Callum still felt his missing fingers gently aching. It was strange: it wasn’t as if he still physically felt them, but he could still feel that they were there.

He’d come up with a theory: the whole reason why the spell worked was because a piece of his arcanums manifested physically in his body. His pinkies were only a small part of his body, so he’d lost an even smaller portion of his arcanums to the spell. But, that didn’t mean that the entirety of the magic in his fingers had been used in the spell. Not to mention the fact that dark magic leaves a sort of residue in the people that use it: who’s to say that the same thing doesn’t happen to its ingredients?

Still, he had no way of being sure.

The remainder of the journey was swift and easy. Xadia was just as beautiful as he’d remembered it, but unfortunately they didn’t have the time to stop and… smell the flowers. She shivered. The last time he’d used that idiom he’d smelled a rather displeasing flower.

It was another two days before they arrived at the Silvergrove: they’d skipped the adoraburr meadow and everything. “So, how does the key work with this many people?”

“Well, you’re the only one without a key, so it’ll be pretty much exactly the same.”

Callum mentally facepalmed at his stupid question as Runaan grumbled about how he shouldn’t have been allowed into the Silvergrove in the first place.

Rayla and Callum, as oddly specific as it was, anticipated that they’d return to the silvergrove, so Rayla had taught Callum to use her key properly. They decided to go in last, despite Runaan's objections.

He was still a little clumsy, but he knew the movements and could actually keep up with his fiance.

They finished, and the illusion faded. Everything was… different this time. Perhaps it’s because he saw it as a potential future home for his new family. He was sure that Rayla would want to settle down somewhere, someday, but he wasn’t sure when or where.

As it turns out, it was mostly different because the town’s people actually had faces this time. “Rayla, you…” His voiced trailed off as he looked at her. He could see the tears in the corners of her eyes, and decided to let her have the moment.

He immediately took this decision back as she grabbed his hand and started to drag him into town. “R-ray, wait. I’m a human, remember? This looks like a job for… _Elf Callum!” ___

__She stopped immediately. “No, Callum. Elf Callum is dead.” He stifled a laugh. “Besides, they’ll see right through your disguise. It’s awful.”_ _

__His eyes glinted, forgetting all about his previous troubles. “Ah, but now it’s not!” He wretched his hand from her grasp and turned away from the group. He frowned at the rune he drew: the streak was beginning to increase in size. He whispered to himself, **“Parva Error.”** Then, when the flash ended, he turned around, confident in his disguise. “Tadaa!”_ _

__He’d actually practiced this one in front of a mirror. The antlers were as close as he could get them to what Rayla had described to him. He didn’t even need to change his fingers at all anymore! He bowed. “Trees to meet--”_ _

__Rayla held up her hand. “Stop.” He giggled. When was the last time he could just enjoy lighthearted fun like this? Of course, it was all in the shadow of the weird impending darkness that showed itself in his runes, but still._ _

__“That’s an impressive disguise, but you’ve got to work on that accent.” Tia was covering her mouth, seeming to stifle a laugh. Lain was doing pretty much the same._ _

__Oh, yeah. He’d forgotten the whole talking part. It was okay, though. Elf Callum was a jokester to be reckoned with: they’d be too busy laughing at his japes to even consider the validity of his disguise._ _

__Rayla sighed. “Well, let’s go, then.”_ _

__The group walked into the town. The others were flanking him: even Runaan seemed to be watching his back. A tall elf in robes walked up to the group and bowed. “Ethari filled us in on everything. You are welcome back to the Silvergrove, Rayla.” He frowned. “But the traitors and human must leave.”_ _

__Callum flinched. “Oi, what human? I’m Callum, an Earthblood elf!”_ _

__The elf was not amused. “I’m a moon mage, child. I can see right through your disguise.”_ _

__He waved his hand and let the illusion fade. “Fine. But what do you mean, traitors?” He’d been too busy defending himself to notice the mixed faces of his group. Lain and Tia were equally hurt and angry. Rayla and Runaan left alone the ‘hurt’ portion._ _

__He pointed towards Tia and Lain. “These two are deserters of the Dragonguard. They are not welcome here. We will ghost them as soon as they leave.”_ _

__Rayla stepped forward. “They’re not deserters. They defended Zym’s egg until Viren trapped them!” She and Callum still shuddered at the mention of his name._ _

__He waved his hand and turned away. “I am not interested in hearing the stories of a child.”_ _

__“It’s true.” Runaan was now the one to step forward. “I was trapped in the same way. That’s why I haven’t returned until now.” He grudgingly motioned to Callum. “This human is the one who brought us back.”_ _

__Appearing interested in what he had to say, the robed elf turned and looked back at Callum. “Gave up a couple of fingers for it, too.”_ _

__He turned back around, as if unable to look Callum in the eye. “I will talk with the council about this. You may stay until further notice.”_ _

__They waited for him to walk away before even moving. “What a gracious welcome.” Callum was the first one to speak up. His comment earned him playful punch on the shoulder from Rayla._ _

__Well, they were here at last. Callum looked at his hands, hoping he wouldn’t have to leave so soon._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess that's a pretty good point to call the end of season 1? Technically what it could be is season 4, but we'll call it season 1 since it's what I wrote. So... There's much, much more to come. If there's anything, like, say, a bonus chapter you want me to write, I'll take a prompt! Thanks to everyone for reading so far!


	26. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our elf friends are finally home!

“I knew, ever since your flower rose from the bottom of the pond, that you’d return, as you said you would.” Ethari welcomed Runaan home with open arms. It’s not as if Callum had expected any different, though. It was sweet, with just a hint of bitterness in the very background. Runaan didn’t appreciate his help, after all.

That’s not what mattered, though. He was home and happy, and so was his husband.

When they broke from their embrace, Ethari’s eyes shot up and met Rayla’s, and then those of Rayla’s parents. “Tia? Lain? Why have you come back now?” He ran from Runaan and swept them in a hug, narrowly missing Callum.

It wasn’t as if he would have refused a hug, but it was their reunion. He didn’t have much to do with it. Actually, he did, but he wouldn’t go shoving it in their faces.

“Ethari, you convinced them to unghost me?” Rayla was ecstatic. Callum didn’t blame her: she’d been so upset when she found out what they had done to her.

“It wasn’t easy, but yes. There was no way I could let an injustice like that stand. Not to you.” Apparently, the unghosting ritual couldn’t be singled out: if the town unghosted one person, they did it to every single person they ever banished. That must have been why her parents weren’t ghosts.

“And you.” He looked up, watching Ethari’s excitement falter, just a little. “Didn’t you have a couple extra fingers the last time I saw you?” Seriously? How did he see through Callum’s ingenious disguise?

“It’s a long story.”

“But a necessary one,” Rayla added.

Callum sighed. All this explanation was getting a little tiring. It’s not as if he was looking forward to it: he’d heard that it was a severe punishment, and thus was extremely painful, but it was probably the only way to fix whatever was wrong with him. The sooner they got to Lux Aurea, the better.

“Well, I think it’s your turn to spin the tale of my heroism.” He chuckled. If there was anything more entertaining than watching her explain her moon powers, or train, or when they flew, or… Anyway, she was a good storyteller.

Ethari invited them inside, a little baffled about what kind of heroism they were talking about.

They sat down in a large room with plenty of furniture. “While we’re all here, I’ll catch you up on all that’s happened since we last met.”

Perfect. That should give Callum a bit of time to process what had just happened. First of all, Runaan stood up for him? He literally had tried to kill him not three days prior. What changed? Was it because he was… What did he say? SoulBonded? Yeah, that was it.

“You can fly?” Ethari’s question snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Uh, yeah?”

“And you jumped off the Storm Spire?” Oh. That’s what they were talking about. He wasn’t too upset about missing out on that part of the tale.

“Y-yes.”

Ethari continued to gape at him a little. Callum guessed it was due to the impression he’d first made when they met. ‘Trees to meet you’ probably wasn’t the best first line to greet somebody completely new with. Yeah, something like, ‘wood ya like to shake hands?’ would be… Not much better, on second thought.

Rayla continued telling the story. They’d stayed on the spire for a while, she trained the dragonguard, he studied magic, yeah he’d heard it all before.

Was he in danger in this town? Was that why Rayla and her parents surrounded him while they walked in? Maybe it was to try to stop anyone from interacting with him. After all, his elf impression obviously needed work.

“Callum.” He snapped out of it, once again.

“Are you alright? That’s the second time we’ve called for you and you were deep in thought.”

“Oh, yeah. Just thinking about… stuff. Guy… stuff…” He mentally facepalmed, and then subconsciously he did it for real.

Runaan cleared his throat to get the conversation back on track. Always business with him: it wasn’t always a great trait, but Callum would have thanked him for it then.

“Anyway… I was thinking you’d like to finish this story, since it is about you?” Ethari grinned. Callum didn’t know him well, but Ethari seemed like someone he wouldn’t mind getting to know better.

“Sure… uh… Where are we at?” He looked to his right, at Rayla.

“Were you not paying any attention at all?”

“If I say that I was, will you still tell me?”

She laughed. “I just told them about when you froze Viren.”

Again, with that cold shiver down the spine. “Of course.” He took a breath, ready to summarize their journey thus far. “We were already prepared to go on this journey before the whole Viren incident happened, so we headed out to take Viren back to Katolis. We got there, locked him away, set his daughter free, more on that later.” He took another deep breath. “Then Ezran, my brother and king of Katolis, asked us for help with the upcoming winter festival, so we agreed to stay for a while. Then the festival happened, Rayla and I got engaged, I did a magic show, and--”

Ethari stood up suddenly. “You two are engaged?” 

Callum gulped. “Yes. We don’t have any idea about when or where there’ll be a wedding, but--”

“That’s amazing!” Ethari beamed at him, losing his normal composure. He seemed to realise the way he was acting, and let his face return to its normal, semi-stoic state. Sat down and cleared his throat. “Continue.” He could hardly hide the excitement in his voice.

“After the festival I had a dream with the butterfly we saved from Viren: it told me that Rayla’s parents were alive and to ask someone close to him about it. Then I woke up and went to go see his daughter. She showed me the coins and I found those three trapped inside. Then I called a council meeting and we discussed what would happen next. His daughter stayed behind and looked for a solution while Rayla and I visited the Moon Nexus so I could connect to the Moon Primal. I got the source, but it was a little different than everyone else’s so we left--”

“Tell us that story, we know the rest!” Tia spoke up. Was she drinking?

Rayla spoke up. “Another time, Ethari needs to be caught up.”

She grumbled, but quieted down.

“We got word from Ez that Claudia had a solution, so we headed back, but it turns out she just wanted to use dark magic. By this time I had come up with a solution of my own, which was…” He sighed. As much as it had been his idea, he really hated to talk about it. “To use my own body as a catalyst.”

He winced as he heard a few too many gasps than he had expected. They had known, right?

“For about a week, I helped Claudia--Viren’s daughter--with experiments using my own nails, hair, and, eventually, blood. When none of those contained the power necessary, I decided I’d part with my extra fingers.”

Rayla slapped him on the shoulder. “They weren’t extra, dummy.”

“Right, right. So I gave them my semi-necessary--” He looked to Rayla for confirmation; she shrugged. “--fingers, and brought them back from the coins. All without the use of another creature’s life.” He was proud about that last part.

He looked up at the ceiling. Did he leave anything out? “And then we traveled here to let them come home after such a long time.” He looked at Rayla, who seemed to be experiencing the ordeal all over again. He squeezed her hand, and she squeezed back.

He looked over at Ethari, who was really gaping now. “You… You’re the one responsible for bringing my heart back to me.” He looked ready to burst into tears.

Callum held up his hands in front of him, not realising that it wouldn’t help. “Hey, it was no biggie, just uh… Doing my best for…” He ran out of things to say.

Ethari moved quickly as an assassin to hug him. A friendliness assassin. Ezran would love the idea. “Thank you. I don’t know how I could ever repay you.”

“There’s no need.” He leaned and whispered something he probably shouldn’t have. “Well, maybe just this one thing. You think you can convince Runaan to not kill me?”

Ethari laughed, not realising Callum was being serious. Crap. His mouth moved faster than his brain could. This was not the time nor the place for that conversation. He laughed along with the rest of the room, well, except for Runaan, but he probably wasn’t capable of humor, anyway.

Real smooth, Callum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still keeping an eye out for any prompts for a bonus chapter!


	27. Magicless Journey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum, Rayla, and her parents head to Lux Aurea.

This was it. The moment of truth. It was something he’d never done before, only imagined doing so many times; he thought about it nearly every time he looked at Rayla. He… was going to try a moonberry surprise for the first time.

He’d asked her about it numerous times, but she insisted that its ingredients remain a secret to him until he was able to try it, and now… All those months of inquiry were coming to an end. He took a spoonful of the mystery dessert: it was like a pie, filled with a warm, non-melty ice cream. He saw in the corner of his eye as Rayla watched in awe, her mouth hanging open with shear anticipation.

The bite was mere inches away from his mouth when he felt his hand twitch, and a new wave of pain radiated through it. The pain was centered on his pinkies, even though they were detached. The waves spread through his hand as if they weren’t, though.

He dropped the spoon. Dangit. A perfectly probably tasty bit of dessert wasted on the floor. This was a travesty, to say the least.

“I know you’re not supposed to cry over spilt moonberry surprise, but…” He pouted his lip.

It seemed that his sense of humor was lost on a concerned Rayla. “It’s getting worse, isn’t it?” She reached down and picked up the spoon, the dessert still attached.

He sighed. “Yeah. I know we’ve not been here for long, but…” He looked at the spoon in her hand. “I think we need to take care of this before it gets worse.”

Now it was her turn to sigh. “Are you sure that’s the only way?”

“It’s the only thing I can think of, Ray.” They looked at each other sadly. It wasn’t because she was going to have to leave the Silvergrove, not at all. Whenever one of them went through pain, the other experienced worse pain by watching it happen. They wouldn’t turn away, though. That had been their promise.

“I know. I just don’t like the idea. I’ve heard it’s the most painful thing people ever experience.” 

Callum smirked. “Hey, Ez said the same thing about amputation, and I’m still here.”

She glared at him. Right. Not the time for jokes.

“I’m not really sure if I want to leave, either. It’s peaceful here, and… Peace isn’t something that comes easily.” Callum looked down again. “But, I can’t just leave this be. We should leave tomorrow.”

She looked him in the eye. “Okay.”

[~-~]

“We’re going with you.” Rayla’s parents were packed and ready alongside them.

“What?” They were both baffled.

“Didn’t you want to stay home, though?” Callum asked.

“One of our biggest regrets,” Tia said, “is that we made our home away from our daughter.”

Lain spoke next. “Rayla, you are our home. At least until we know for sure that you’re safe.”

Callum didn’t really want to argue. In truth, this was what he had wanted. Rayla finally got to spend time with her parents. Maybe it wasn’t under the circumstances that he’d hoped, but it was much better than nothing at all.

He hadn’t drawn a rune since they’d arrived; he was scared that it would accelerate the dark magic’s influence. This would be a rough journey without magic: kind of similar to before he first made his connection.

Well, Lux Aurea wasn’t too far away. How hard a journey could it be?

[~-~]

Once again, irony got the better of him. Before him was a meadow of flowers. They’d smelled it from miles away, but it was nothing like this. This was a mile-long, mile-wide, meadow consisting only of fart flowers. “It’ll take us a whole other day to go around. Maybe I should fl--” 

Rayla shot him a glance that immediately shut down that idea. How had he gotten so dependent on magic? What would he do before all this?

Well… he’d probably just go back to the Silvergrove and wait until he’d die. Yeah, pre-sky arcanum Callum wasn’t the greatest guy to look to for advice.

“Let’s just cross it.” Lain said, prompting a nod from his wife. Really? They were just gonna cross it?

He looked at Rayla, who agreed with the idea. 

Come on, universe. Just a small break would be appreciated.

[~-~]

Unfortunately, there were no breaks to be had on this journey. He was without magic, and therefore practically useless. They simply walked through the meadow, and then thankfully through a river, which got rid of the majority of the smell. The remaining trek to Lux Aurea was practically a straight shot, so they made good headway. Soon enough, though, it got dark and they had to set up camp for the night.

Their tents were in close proximity, but large enough for two people each. That was good. There would be no nightmares that night.

They sat beside a fire for a while, before turning in for the night.

Long after sleep took him, it let him go. He heard rustling outside the tent. If couldn’t be day yet, could it? He peeked outside to see a band of thugs: five, maybe? They were elves: two sunfire, an earthblood, and two moonshadow elves.

This was bad. Very bad. He silently backed up to where Rayla was now rousing. 

She was about to say something, but he immediately silenced her. 

He leaned in to her ear, and explained the situation in the quietest tone he could muster.

Her eyes hardened immediately, and she readied herself. There was no way she could take on five guys at once: since he couldn’t use magic, he wouldn’t be much help. He decided instead to rush to Rayla’s parent’s tents and rouse them, too.

Callum started the silent countdown on his fingers. ‘Three, Two, One.’ They burst through the tent’s opening: Rayla charged at the largest one, blades drawn, while Callum opened Tia and Lain’s tent.

He roused them less gently than he had Rayla: this was urgent. He rushed back out the tent to see that they were all focusing their efforts on her.

Out of instinct, he drew a rune, his eye catching the level of darkness in it: it was nearly halfway dark. Crap.

“Callum, no!” Rayla looked over to him, still in the heat of battle.

Oh, no. No, he’d distracted her. He waved away his rune and watched. He couldn’t just sit back and watch, could he? She was skilled, sure, but… He couldn’t just sit and let this happen. He had to get at least one of them off of her. He looked around for a rock, and chucked it at the easiest target. 

The large earthblood elf turned towards him and started to approach him. That was good, at least. Now she only had to divide her attention between four people. Even that was too much, but he would just get in the way without his magic.

Okay, just like before. Focus on the air. Zappy hands would be enough, right? He didn’t have much time to think it over, so he prepared himself.

Her parents stepped out of the tent, weapons drawn. “Go help Rayla, I can take this one.”

They looked at him, slightly skeptical, but decided to trust him.

“Heh. You’re making a mistake, trying to take me on, shrimp.” The green elf towered over him, weilding an axe, probably larger than he was.

“We’ll see.”

First came an overhead strike. His opponent was sloppy: there was an opening immediately after his first attack. Callum opened his fist, and imagined the rune forming in his head.

For some reason, though, all he could think about was the dark streak; the resulting mental image was consumed by it. Well, he didn’t have time to try again. He thrusted his palm into his opponent’s side, and his hand flashed as searing pain ran up his arm.

He instinctively gripped his wrist and he looked at his burned hand. A rebound? Ibis had told him about this: if the spell was more powerful than what the caster was prepared for, there would be a rebound.

He looked up at the elf he’d shocked. Five feet away, he laid there, twitching. A trail of disturbed dirt and grass marked his impact with the ground. He looked back at his hand. It had stopped smoking, but the pain was still there. All in all, not bad. He looked over at his comrades. They had finished and were running towards him. 

“Callum, are you alright?”

Was he? Yeah, he was probably fine. “Yup. A little beat up, but I’ll be alright.”

She crouched down next to him. “You weren’t supposed to use magic, dummy. We could have handled that.”

“I know, I just… Couldn’t stand back and watch you fight them. I hate being useless like this.”

She hugged him. “You aren’t useless, Callum. You never have been.”

Lain cleared his throat. “I’m sorry to bother you, but… What exactly did you do to him?”

“That’s the thing: I’m not entirely sure.”

They quickly packed up their things and left the band of thugs where they were. On the way, Callum explained what had happened during the fight.

It was just a couple hours before they made it to Lux Aurea. The grand gates were guarded by soldiers wielding all manners of weaponry. “I am Queen Amaya’s nephew. I’m here to see her.”

The two in front of them looked at each other and shrugged.

That seemed pretty easy.

He started to walk forward, but the guards blocked Rayla and her parents. 

“They’re with me.”

“You said that you were here to see our Queen. You go. They stay.”

Callum rolled his eyes. “Look, guys. I’ve had a pretty tough day already. Can you just let us all in?”

“The guard narrowed her eyes at him. “Call for Queen Amaya immediately: we’ll see if they are telling the truth.”

The group collectively rolled their eyes this time. Callum didn’t have forever. The dark magic was tainting his arcanums faster and faster as time went on. The fight that morning hadn’t helped.

Soon enough, his aunt came bounding from the gate, happy to see him. Not wanting to let her hug him while his arm was still injured, he held up both of his hands to get her to wait a minute. Immediately, she stopped, a concerned look on her face.

She signed, “What happened to your hands?”

Oh. He forgot about that. Sign language is a little harder if you’re missing a finger.


	28. Purification

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum goes through with his plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, this chapter describes heavy pain and suffering. If that's not your thing, go ahead and disregard this chapter. I'll write a quick summary at the start of the next chapter.

Amaya’s face wrinkled in horror. Her nephew wanted… to be purified?

She’d gone through it herself, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience: she hadn’t been touched by dark magic. If what her nephew said was true, then…

“I know how you feel.” It was his girlfriend. Well, fiance, now, but she was pretty much his girlfriend. “I don’t want to see him go through this either.”

She truly looked as if she was dreading it: Callum had picked a good one. She would stick with him through everything. Amaya had enough experience to see it.

“I did this once,” She signed. As it turns out, Callum had been teaching her sign language. She faced the same challenges that Janai first did when they met, but it was legible, at least. “It wasn’t a pleasant experience.”

Rayla looked down at her feet. She didn’t seem the type to be this apprehensive: this particular challenge must have been specially worrying. Amaya placed her hand on the young elf’s shoulder. “He’s a strong kid. He’ll make it through this.”

She looked up at her. “Yeah.” Her own hand met Amaya’s. “Thanks.”

[~-~]

Janai looked just as pained as Amaya did. “Nephew, are you…?”

“Yes. I’m sure. I can’t risk this getting any worse.” If it did, he wasn’t sure what would happen. What happened before, with his arm, wasn’t good. The very minimal spell had been many times more powerful than it should have been. If he’d actually cast fulminis, the rebound may have killed him. He needed to take care of this. Here, and now.

She grimaced, and drew a rune. “This will hold you in place. The sunforge will burn away the parts of you that are tainted by dark magic.”

Rings of light surrounded him, and he realised he couldn’t move. “Okay. I’m ready.” He steeled himself: there was no way he would get through this if he didn’t prepare for it.

Janai motioned for the elf holding their sun stone.

He held it up, and the sunforge harnessed into it.

This was it.

He was on his knees, which was good. If he wasn’t, he would have fallen. The very moment that the beam struck his body, it burned. 

The beam traveled up his body: it felt as if it left a trail of molten flesh in its wake until it stopped on his chest. The sun ignited his being, and he let out a pained scream. He grit his teeth to silence himself.

It was working, though. He felt the part of him that had long since been disattached, burning away. When it was close to gone, though, it latched onto another part of himself.

The dark magic plaguing him was like a parasite: clawing at his arcanums, looking for sustenance. It was going to win if he didn’t do anything about it, but… the burning hole in his chest was too much. He passed out.

[~-~]

“Callum.” He opened his eyes, to find himself in darkness. This again?

“I’m running out of time. I’ve helped you too much.” He turned around, to see a brilliant light. He ventured toward it, curious.

“Who…?” He walked closer, and saw his mother in the center of the light.

“My time here has come to an end. I love you, Callum. This is the last thing I can do for you.”

The light shone more brilliantly than before, and the darkness was swept away. “Mom… what?”

“Remember, my son.” Callum felt a different heat from the light now. It wasn’t burning, but… just warm: Nourishing. “Know it fully: Head, hand, heart, mind, body, spirit. I love you.”

The light intensified once again, and then dissipated. In its place was a pleasant warmth in his chest.

[~-~]

Callum’s eyes shot open. This contradiction: the difference between a nourishing warmth and a burning fire: that was it. The sun arcanum. He felt warm: he wasn’t burning like before. In fact, the sunforge simply felt like a normal ray of sunshine.

Callum focused on the warmth. His mom had left him with a flame. With it, he would burn the rot away.

[~-~]

“This is… incredible!” Janai gaped at the boy. He had discovered the secret of the sun primal at a time like this? Well, it was perfect.

If he could just figure out how to use this power, he could burn away the dark magic on his own. After all, this was the sun nexus.

[~-~]

Before, he was fighting a losing battle. Now, it seemed almost too easy. Janai had called off the purification and unbound him. Callum felt as the smudges on his arcanums melted away. He flopped onto the ground behind him. “That… was intense.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna save this one for tomorrow, but it's pretty short so I just decided to post it today.


	29. Post-Purification

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Callum's purification is done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who skipped the last chapter, Callum obtained the sun arcanum with a little help from his mom. She said it was the last time she could help him, and exposed him to a healing warmth that helped him understand the sun primal source. He used it to burn away the dark magic on his own.

They would have been there with him, but it was customary for only the necessary staff to be present during a purification. Of course, Amaya could easily have superseded this rule; she was the queen. However, she trusted her wife, and she trusted her nephew. If anything went wrong, Amaya had every faith that Janai would put a stop to it. Instead, they waited in the room preceding the sunforge.

She looked over at Rayla. As time went on, she seemed more and more anxious about being apart from Callum. Especially while he was going through this on his own.

She was about to comfort her future niece when the doors busted open, shining light through the doorway. When their eyes adjusted, Callum was standing there, letting Janai’s hand rest on his shoulder.

Rayla ran forward and pulled Callum into a hug. She must have said something, but Amaya couldn’t catch it.

“Is all well?” She signed, making her own way over.

Janai signed at spoke at the same time. “It’s better than that. Your nephew… He’s the most talented child I’ve ever seen.”

Callum blushed, still clutching Rayla. “What… do you mean?”

“I’ll let him explain.”

Callum stood up, and looked as if thinking about something. He let go of Rayla, who seemed equally interested. Then, he turned and whispered something in Janai’s ear. Well, not that she could really tell the volume, but she had an intuition for these things.

Janai laughed, and pulled him away from the group. Rayla tried to object, but Amaya grabbed her wrist. “Let’s just wait and see.”

Callum came back moments later, looking confident. She read his lips. “Are you ready?”

He drew a rune. It was… orange? She’d never seen him draw an orange rune before. She looked at Rayla. She showed mixed emotions, but beamed at him. She looked back at her nephew and read the spell the best as she could. It looked like… “Calor?” Suddenly, an orb appeared in his hands. It radiated heat.

Amaya wasn’t too knowledgeable about magic, but she was pretty sure that a sky mage wasn’t supposed to be capable of sun magic. “What does this mean?”

Rayla looked at her. “It means that Callum connected to the sky primal.”

It… Was completely lost on her. But, seeing the way everyone else was so excited, it had to be something special. She crouched down in front of Callum. She signed, “I’m proud of you, Callum.”

[~-~]

Everyone’s reactions grew even sweeter when Callum told them about what happened while he was out. He was hesitant to explain everything: he wasn’t sure how Amaya would react if he told her his mother had helped him. He did it anyway.

When he finished his story, Amaya squeezed her eyes shut. She still wore the same smile she had been wearing. “She always loved her children, so much. I’m not surprised my stubborn sister stayed in this world to watch over you.”

He hugged his Aunt, hoping she felt as warm as he did.

…

Hours later, Callum and Rayla shared a room. She’d hardly let go of him ever since he was purified. If situations were reversed, he would have been just as clingy.

“Hey, Ray?”

She looked up at him. “Yeah, Cal?” Huh. She’d never called him that before. He couldn’t help but grin at her.

“I could really use a shower.” She stared at him… “Are you gonna let me go…?”

She smirked. “Of course not, dummy. I’m never letting you out of my sight.” He blushed. Really? Now?

They’d been avoiding serious intimacy ever since they’d met. Mostly, they were scared of what may have been the result. “Um… Are you… sure?” Both of their faces were reddening at an alarming rate.

“Oh, Callum, we’re not doing _that!”_ They were both tomatoes. “It’s just a shower!”

“Oh.” Oh.

[~-~]

Callum had been warmer than usual that night. Maybe it was the sun arcanum? Maybe it was because she thought he’d die. She’d been having that feeling way too often. She was a moonshadow elf: she wasn’t supposed to exhibit her emotions, and yet… this human had changed her. Was it for the better? Yeah, she thought so.

“Callum, are you still awake?” She looked at him. Guess not.

She sighed. How could he sleep so easily after what had happened that day?

Despite that thought, she slipped off into sleep just a couple minutes later.

…

Rayla opened her eyes and found herself in the Sun Nexus. It was just her and Callum: he was on his knees, surrounded by orange runic rings. No, not this. She definitely didn’t want to see this again. While she hadn’t seen Callum’s purification, she’d heard stories, and could piece it together from there.

She sprinted to him. “Callum, can you get out?” He seemed to try, but couldn’t move. She grabbed him under the armpits and pulled. He didn’t budge an inch.

“Ray, it’s fine. I’ve done it before, I’ll get through this.” No. He was not going to suffer through this again.

The beam started moving towards them. Rayla positioned herself in front of him, ready to take the brunt of its force. “No, Callum.”

“Rayla, stop. You don’t have the spell on you, it’ll kill you.” She didn’t care. She’d rather die than let him go through it again.

The beam struck her, and they both woke up.

[~-~]

He clutched her. There was no way she’d know what had happened in his dream, but somehow it felt as if she did. Tears were flowing freely now. “Rayla, how could you…?”

She smiled to him. “Because I love you, Callum.”

Did she know? How could she? Unless… “Were you having a nightmare too?”

“Yeah.”

Huh. Maybe this was somehow related to the ‘soulbond’ thing Runaan was talking about? Questions for later.

He pulled her into a closer embrace. He’d just unlocked a new arcanum, and yet… He felt so weak.

Raya patted the top of his head, which kind of hurt. Wait, what? Why did the top of his head hurt?

Rayla let out a small gasp and pet him again. Once again, it kind of hurt. This time, he felt the source: he had little bumps on his head.

“Callum, you’re not gonna believe this.”

He let go of Rayla and felt the top of his head. Sure enough, he felt two bumps extending backward from the front-top of his head. “What…?”

“Callum, you have horns growing on your head.” What the hell?


	30. Bonus Chapter: Tia Talk!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla has a talk with her Mom.

Although Rayla didn’t need to shop for groceries, she did anyway. The royal chefs would prepare anything that they desired, but she wanted to do this for Callum.

Cooking wasn’t something she was great at, so she enlisted the help of her mother.

“So… What are we looking for?” Tia asked.

“I’m gonna make Callum some moonberry surprise! He never got to try it, so I figured I’d try and make it for him.” Tia looked at her weirdly, but shrugged it off.

“Do you know what ingredients to look for?”

“I know one: it’s in the name.”

Her mom facepalmed. “You can’t hope to replicate a dessert without a recipe. Not first try, at least.”

What? Why not? “Well, I’m gonna try.” They searched the market for a while longer, not seeing anything vaguely resembling a moonberry. “So… I guess they don't sell moonberries here. It kind of makes sense, now that I think about it.”

They started back towards the palace. Well, it was now or never. Truly, Rayla had another reason for wanting to bring her mom along. “So… I’ve been meaning to ask you about something… It’s about Callum.” 

Tia flinched, and steadied herself. “I was wondering when you would come to me for help.”

“What?”

“I see the way you are with him: I just want to make sure you’re responsible, Rayla. Having children is a giant responsibility. Now, I know how it feels to be young and in love, but I’m going to suggest you wait for a few years before you have kids.”

What in the world? Her mom totally misread the situation! “Mom, that’s--”

“I know, it’s a lot to ask of you hold back the urges I’m sure you feel, but--”

“Mom!” Seriously.

“Uh…” Tia stopped ranting and looked at her daughter. “Oh. I got the wrong idea, didn’t I?”

“Totally.”

She sighed. “Well, my opinion still stands. Save sex for later.”

“Mom, stop!”

Rayla sighed. Some things never change.

“Fine, fine. What did you want to ask me?”

Rayla’s head was buzzing with embarrassment. What was her question? Oh, right. She remembered. “You don’t know of any human to ever learn primal magic, right?”

Tia’s face straightened. This was serious. “No. We thought for the longest time that it was impossible. That’s why they resorted to dark magic and caused the divide.”

Rayla nodded. “I think that having arcanums is changing Callum’s body.”

Tia tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“He’s growing horns, mom.”

It felt weird to say it out loud.

She made a face, then looked at the sky, thinking. “I have an idea, but I’m not sure.”

Tia looked at her daughter, who nodded her on. She continued. “You see, our horns are a result of our magic. So, for example, if an elf was somehow born without an arcanum, they would have no horns. So, now that Callum has magic, he has to grow horns, too. Does that make sense?”

It didn’t really… Rayla had always thought that elves and their magic were inseparable. Well, Callum would probably get it if Tia repeated the explanation to him.

They arrived at the main gate, which promptly opened for them. “Thanks for the talk, mom.”

Tia put her hand on Rayla’s shoulder. “Anytime.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... yeah, elf Callum isn't a thing in this story, per se. He is becoming a magical being though, for sure. Tia's explanation is my headcanon, so it's what I'm using for this story.


	31. A New Mentor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum meets his Sun Magic teacher!

Callum drew the Aspiro rune. Sure enough, it was free of any dark smudges. He grinned to himself. He had come here for a cure for his ailment, and completed one of his life goals while he was at it.

“Rayla, this is awesome! I can’t wait to learn sun magic!” The two of them were on their way to Callum’s new mentor. It didn’t appear that many sunfire elves focused solely on magic, but surely there were some mages.

The two of them had decided to stay in Lux Aurea so Callum could learn sun magic.

They approached the address Janai had given them, and knocked on the door. There wasn’t a response. As Callum reared his hand to knock again, the door swung open. He couldn’t see anybody on the inside, but heard a man’s voice. “Are you Callum and Rayla?”

Callum held his chin high. “Yes.”

“Great.” The door promptly shut in their faces. 

“What?”

“Did… he just shut the door in our faces?” Indeed he had.

Callum knocked at the door again. “Um… Hello?” He hoped this new mentor just had a weird sense of humor.

“Go away. I don’t teach humans.” Humor was a negative.

Callum frowned. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t this. “What do you mean? What difference does it make?”

Callum heard a sigh through the door, which was impressive, seeing as how the door felt to be a few inches thick. “Just go. I’m not in the business of teaching anymore. Tell your Aunt to find you another teacher.”

Fine. Callum turned and took Rayla’s hand, ready to leave, but she looked resolute. “Hey,” She said. “He’s not like the humans you know. Just give him a chance, will you?”

“Uh, Ray, it seems like he wants to be left alone.”

Suddenly, the door swung open. Callum met the tall elf’s eyes. They glowed softly like a cat’s eyes in the night. His eyes stared deep into Callum’s being. “You… have been purified.”

“Y-yeah?” Even though he got through it with a net positive, he still didn’t recall it fondly.

“Then. You have practiced dark magic, yes?”

Callum could see where this was going.

“He saved my life, and those of my family.” Rayla spoke before he got a chance to defend himself. “I’ve never met such a selfless person in my life.”

The elf looked at him once more. “If you’re so selfless, you’ll leave me be.” He turned back into his home and shut the door behind himself.

“That… could have gone better.” Callum looked over at Rayla; she still looked mildly upset.

“People like him give me a pain in the neck.” She smirked at him. “Sometimes, a bit of slishin’ and slashin’s the only way to get it out.” She dropped her right leg behind her left, ready to throw a kick at the door.

“Rayla, hold on.” Callum grabbed her wrist. She held off her assault on the man’s door. “If he doesn’t want to teach me now, it’s fine. There’s other stuff we can do: we’ll come back tomorrow, ‘kay?”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. I was just gonna beat some sense into him, but…” She let her warm Rayla smile creep onto her lips. “Since you’re so kind, I’ll save it for tomorrow.” 

He couldn’t help but chuckle at her.

[~-~]

The old mage looked at the couple as they left. That boy… definitely seemed different. But, he knew better. Humans were liars. Evil, conniving creatures who only work for their own benefit. Perhaps this ‘Callum’ child was an exception. Only time would tell.

_He recalled the last of his many students. She’d been a human: young with the gleam of excitement ever present in her eyes. Of course, she didn’t have a primal connection, but… She was so eager to learn, he couldn’t just turn her down. Since he’d been a boy, he’d protected his family’s sun primal stone: he thought that if he taught this human, she could be like a bridge between the humans and elves._

__She had given him hope: with it, she’d ripped out his heart._ _

__He shook his head. Elarion had been gone for a long time. Perhaps it’s time for him to change, too..._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh, an OC with a backstory! More will be revealed as time goes on. Thanks for reading!


	32. Sun Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum has his first lesson with his teacher!

“That was easier than I thought it’d be.” Callum looked at Rayla, who seemed equally surprised at his mentor’s sudden change of heart. He’d decided to teach Callum after all.

The two walked through the elf’s home: it was decorated in a similar fashion to the other Lux Aurea homes they’d been in, except some of the walls were scratched and torn.

Maybe his previous students made a mess while practicing magic?

Even though he’d invited them in, Callum still had not seen his face, nor did he know his name. He picked up his speed so as to speak to his mentor. “Hey, um… sir?”

“You can call me Khuz.”

“Is that your name?”

He grunted in response. So that was a yes?

He followed Khuz through a door to find himself in a huge room. The ceilings were tall, and the room was spacious enough for a parade. “How?” The room itself was bigger than the elf’s house.

“This is a special room. All the magic teachers in Lux Aurea have access to it.” Callum could hardly contain his excitement. This was so cool!

“It’s as big as a ballroom!”

Khuz shook his head. Oops. Callum hoped he hadn’t said anything disrespectful. “I hear that you have a talent for picking up magic after seeing it only once. Normally my students would spend weeks studying the proper technique for casting a spell, but it would seem that you already have those skills.”

Oh, the lesson is starting immediately. Callum’s attention shot directly to his mentor. He had never been a great study as a child, but this was _magic._

“To start, I’ll need to check the balance of your arcanum.” Callum tilted his head. “Come.” Khuz motioned for him to approach, so he did.

He drew a rune Callum had never seen before and struck Callum with his palm.

For such an old looking man, he packed a serious punch. It wasn’t enough to knock Callum off his feet, but it did knock a bit of the wind out of him.

“Huh. You really are special.” Callum looked up at him, still wheezing. “Your arcanum is in perfect balance already.” Callum was confused.

“What does that mean?”

The man chuckled. “I forget that you are a human. For now, what can you tell me about the sun arcanum?”

Callum thought about it. “It’s like… understanding the difference between warmth and heat.” That didn’t make much sense: Rayla’s face was proof enough of that, but Khuz just beamed.

“That’s perfect. So, there are two halves of the sun arcanum, yes?” That made sense; Callum nodded. “So, one half can take precedence over the other if you let it. Most sunfire elves let one side or the other run wild, but it’s only when we’re in perfect balance that we can truly put it to use.”

That also made sense. But why was his connection already in balance?

“Your situation is unprecedented, therefore I must ask: how did your connection come to be?”

Callum thought back to it. “It was while I was being purified. I passed out and…” He closed his eyes. His mother wasn’t there, but the same warmth filled his chest still. “My mom’s spirit showed me the warmth and I understood.”

Khuz’s hand found its way to his chin. “Very interesting. Well, let’s get started.”

The lesson stretched through the day.

[~-~]

Khuz once again watched them leave from the second-story window. He’d avoided teaching the boy any offensive spells. Even though he acknowledged that the boy was different from any human he’d ever met, he was also very similar to… her. She’d been eager to learn, and a quick learner, as well. Both of them had such innate talents for magic, and both had chosen to learn primal magic instead of using dark magic.

Their situations were different, though. Elarion had come to him in secret: he’d trained her, and she’d become more skilled than any student he’d ever taught. The day he called her a master was the day she left, both with his primal stone, and with his heart.

The boy was different, but Khuz would remain wary. He couldn’t afford to open his heart once again. Not to anyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, Khuz is pronounced like this: 'Kooce' It's a little weird, but that's how I thought of it when I came up with his name.


	33. Sparring Match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum spars with a fellow sun magic student!

Just a few weeks later, Callum was ready to start sparring. He had done it before, but only with Ibis. This time, he would fight another student.

“Remember. Sun magic only.” Khuz looked at him. They’d had this talk before, but Callum wasn’t to practice any other type of magic until he was recognised as a master of Sun Magic.

“Right.” He was just a little bit nervous. Of course, they’d have protective spells active, but he’d only ever fought using sky magic. Would it be cheating if he used his air sense?

The other teacher and student arrived shortly after they had. The teacher was a woman, while her student was a man. “You can’t be serious,” She said. “You’re teaching another human?”

Another? Khuz responded before Callum had a chance to ask him about it. “Yes. Upon request of both queens, I am teaching him.”

The other student scoffed at him. “I don’t want to fight someone who’s got to use a primal stone.” 

Khuz grinned, which wasn’t something Callum had seen often. “Show them.”

Callum held up both of his hands, showing that he had no stone. Then, he drew the rune for the protection spell they’d both be wearing. “Ignis Praesidio.” A wave washed over his body, signifying that the spell was active.

Callum’s opponent and his teacher both gaped at him. The student looked to be pretty arrogant, and he stepped forward. “Ha! I won’t even be needing that.”

“Um… are you… sure?” He looked at Khuz, who was still swelling with pride. Huh. Well, they had worked pretty hard over the last couple weeks. His sun magic was pretty good.

“Let him do what he wants. Sunfire elves don’t burn easy, anyway.” Khuz looked over at the other teacher and nodded. They both stepped away as their students approached each other.

“I can’t believe she’s making me fight a filthy human.” Callum’s eye twitched, but he remained silent. He’d showered just that morning.

His opponent’s teacher counted down. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… Go!

Callum flinched as his opponent lunged at him. He was… gonna try to punch him? He moved out of the way, following the air. Was it cheating? Well, whatever.

“I thought this was magic sparring?” Callum asked, confused.

“Ha! Stupid human doesn’t know how to spar! You fight with your fists and your magic!”

Huh. That bit of information may have been helpful. He glanced over at Khuz, who was grinning at him.

The young elf lunged once again, this time taking a running start, preparing to jump and kick him. What the hell was this guy’s deal? Was he trying to show off? 

Callum simply sidestepped the kick, not taking his eyes off his opponent. He decided to just start with a small spell. He found it was better to test your opponent’s skill before committing to anything larger.

He quickly drew the rune, and shouted. **“Ignis!”** A flame formed in his hand, which he promptly directed toward his opponent. 

It hit him square in the back, but seemed to have little affect. “Ha! Is that all you’ve got? You should give up now.” This kid was starting to get on Callum’s nerves. That wasn’t super good, considering his sky arcanum would spike if he got too angry.

His opponent turned around and drew a rune: it had two layers. He shouted, **“Ignus Magna!”** Holy crap. Was his opponent trying to kill him? A larger flame appeared. It was truly large enough to engulf his entire body.

He had to act fast. Callum drew up a two-layered rune of his own, intending to stop his spell in its tracks. **“Imperium Ignis!”** This was his trump card. He’d hoped to not use it so soon, but there he was. Using this spell, he was capable of taking over control of fire that’s already present. 

For the spell to work, he had to have a balance of power and control: Warmth and heat. Luckily, such was the exact nature of his arcanum, so he was the perfect caster for this spell. He split the moving fireball in half, causing it to warp around him. Then, as it spiraled around him, he saw the look of relative terror on his opponent’s face.

Serves him right. Just because he was a human, that didn’t mean he was any less capable of a mage. He was abnormally good at controlling the fire; at least, that’s what Khuz had said.

Callum used the fire around him like a reservoir. First, he would restrict the movement of his opponent, and then-- “I give up.” What? “I give up. You’re too strong for me.” Well, that’s a letdown. He let the fire around him subside and he dropped his guard. He turned back toward Khuz, who seemed to be trying to tell him something.

All of a sudden, Callum’s head rocked to the side as he was hit by the other student. It knocked him off his feet. “Y-you said you’d given up!”

“That’s not how it works, stupid.” The elf continued to kick him while he was down. Seriously? Did he hate him that much? It was… infuriating.

“What… is wrong with you?!” He sat up, ignoring the strikes against him. As he looked up at his opponent, he looked truly scared. What? Why? He was--oh. Right. He got too mad. He felt as his hair fell back to its normal position and he sighed.

His opponent saw something he’d never seen before, and he scrambled away.

He looked at Khuz, who was shaking his head.

That didn’t go as planned.


	34. Growing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Khuz talks to some parents.

“You had one job.” Khuz continued to shake his head.

While it was true that he lost control, it wasn’t really his fault. “I can’t control it. Whenever I get mad it just slips out.”

Khuz sighed, pinching the skin between his eyes. “Now I’ve got to deal with his parents.”

“It wouldn’t be a problem if he wasn’t a bully.” Honestly, he deserved to be scared like that. Not that it was really helping to ease the tensions between humans and elves, but… Callum hated bullies.

“I get it. I do.” He sighed again. “It was already a stretch to convince them to let their son spar with you. Now they want to be reimbursed.” 

Callum was confused. He thought that elves were, for the most part, kind and willing to part with their objects. Typically, using every opportunity for their own benefit was a human thing. He shook his head. No, there wasn’t really a difference. They were all people. “Sorry. Is there anything I can do to help make it a bit easier on you?”

“You might want to hang around the castle for the next couple days. Rumors spread quickly. Who knows who might target you.”

“But my aunt is the queen.”

Khuz looked at him. “There are quite a few people who are unhappy with that, also. All I ask is that you be careful. Nobody wants to see you get hurt.”

Callum was confident in his ability to defend himself, but he listened to his teacher. “Right. I’ll go straight back to the palace and keep a low profile.” He looked at Khuz. “Thanks for looking out for me. You’re a good friend.” He turned and left, unable to see his mentor flinch.

[~-~]

Khuz couldn’t help it. Even though Callum had just screwed up and gave him more work to do, his sincerity was difficult to ignore. He left his home and headed towards that of the boy’s.

It was surprising to Khus too. He knew that the boy had a strong connection to the sky, but for it to interact with his emotions was… incredibly rare. If Elarion had connected to the arcanums, would she too…?

No. He’d been thinking of her too often. As much as he hated to admit it, she was often the only thing he could think about. She’d given him hope and tore it away just as quickly. Now a new child was here, and hope was threatening to creep up on him. Perhaps it already had.

He arrived at the building he’d been looking for and knocked. The door swung open, and he was invited inside.

They had a cozy home, fit for raising a child. It’s a shame that their child ended up this way. “So… where’s the human?” He looked up at the boy’s father, who was taller than himself. The corners of his eyes cracked with rage, much like the ability their queen had.

“My disciple is at the palace. He will not be coming here today.”

The man scoffed. “Just like them. Those humans are all the same.”

Come on. Their son was at least as old as Callum was. How could he be so easily traumatized? Had he not faced a day of hardship in his life? “Sir, I’m here to discuss what future actions will be taken, if any.”

“Damn right there’ll be action!” The man’s wife rounded the corner and stared Khuz in the eye. “We want him out. He hurt my baby boy; there’s no telling who he’ll hurt next.”

Khuz sighed. It was what he’d been expecting, but he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. If he couldn’t stop them here, they’d make an appeal to the queens, and that was a whole other headache all together. “Listen, sir, ma’am, my disciple barely touched your son.”

“Then how is it that he flinches whenever a human is even brought up in conversation?” The father stood taller. 

“Well, did you find any injuries on the boy?” Khuz looked him in the eye. He needed to figure out if they were being truthful or not. 

“Yes. On his back, there was a scorch mark.” Huh. Maybe it had been a bad idea to let him spar without the protective spell after all.

“Mom, dad, stop.” From down the hall came the boy’s voice. He’d shrunk from his usual tall posture, and shivered constantly. “He didn’t really hurt me… It was… the monster that scared me.” Monster?

“Honey, just go back to your room now.”

“No.” He actually straightened up. Perhaps his fright would actually fix this child’s behavioral issues, as much as Khuz hated to admit it. He’d never been a huge advocate for solving violence with violence. “It was my fault. I pushed him too far and he… changed.”

“Can you describe it to me?” Khuz spoke up. As severe as the situation was, he was interested to see how the boy interpreted Callum’s spike of anger.

Khuz received sharp looks from the boy’s parents, but the boy continued. “It was like… his whole body was a lightning rod. His hair was standing up and everything. It was like… if he wanted to, he could have killed me right there.”

He seemed to have a revelation. “But he didn’t.” He looked at his parents, and then to Khuz. “Can… I talk to him?”

Khuz was expecting anything but this, but it was absolutely not a turn for the worse. “Sure. I’ll call for him tomorrow. Will you be okay meeting him then?”

The boy nodded. Khuz couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. Even though his parents were in it to get what they wanted, the boy truly looked for an opportunity to better himself. He turned to leave the house. “Well, it seems like this issue is solving itself. You can send me a letter if you have any other concerns.”

He left without waiting for a response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that not much happened this chapter, but it's building. 
> 
> Khuz is kind of like a principal in his mannerisms. It wasn't exactly what I was going for, but I think it's fitting, anyway.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	35. Catharsis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum is attacked on his way home!
> 
> They say goodbye to Rayla's parents.

The streets of Lux Aurea were often lively during all hours of the day. This did not appear to be the case today. In fact, on his way back to the palace, Callum noticed that the streets were completely barren. There was no way that it was a good sign.

Not wanting to get his mentor into even more trouble, Callum started to take off his jacket, preparing to fly back. Wait, he wasn’t supposed to use sky magic. 

While he hated not being able to fly, he also didn’t want to disobey Khuz. His master had been kind to him; Callum knew that there was a reason he didn’t want to teach a human. It hadn’t been blatant racism, either. There had to be a specific reason, and Callum figured it had to do with that human the other mage had mentioned.

She had said, ‘you’re teaching another human.’

“Hey, kid.” Callum looked up from his musings and came face to face with the exact person he was thinking about.

“Oh, hey. You’re that guy’s teacher, right? Sorry about the lightening thing. I didn’t mean it.”

She looked puzzled. “Lightening thing?” Oops. Maybe he’d said too much. “You must mean the thing you did to scare Rolan.”

Rolan? That must be the kid’s name. “Uh, yeah…”

She smiled. “I have to say, I’m quite intrigued. Our kind doesn’t scare easy. I want to see what you did.”

What? “What do you--” Before he could say much else, she reared her right fist back to hit him. “Woah!” He narrowly dodged the strike. There wasn’t time to think, though, as a second punch was coming.

Callum wasn’t by any means a great fighter: if he didn’t have the sky arcanum, he’d be beaten immediately. However, if he used his air sense to his advantage, he could outmaneuver his opponents with relative ease.

The problem with this opponent was that she was faster than he was. When her fist grazed his cheek, he knew that he couldn’t beat her in hand-to-hand combat. Not in a hundred years.

The solution to this problem was simple: he’d run. As he turned his back on his opponent, he continued to feel out any incoming attacks. It didn’t seem as if she was moving to catch him, however, she was standing in place… drawing a rune. Crap. Callum whipped his head around and readied his spell, but he was too slow. This was a master mage; her experience trumped his talent tenfold.

**“Ignis!”** She shouted, moving the fire to his torso.

Callum couldn’t possibly hope to finish drawing his rune in time to defend, so he abandoned it and covered his torso with his arms. The searing pain sweltered on his skin as her fireball made contact.

Callum really wanted to avoid using sky magic here. Not only did his master forbid it, but it was what she wanted. He would need to keep his emotions in check, and focus on the tools he had at his disposal. If he could just make it back to the palace, she wouldn’t dare continue to attack him.

She seemed to be waiting for his reaction. Quickly, he drew a simple rune to try and heal his arms a little bit. **“Sana.”** The blisters on his arms dissipated as his skin returned to its normal tone. 

His eyes shot back up to his opponent’s, who was looking rather impressed. “So, you’re actually capable of warmth magic. Interesting.” Khuz had explained the two halves of the sun arcanum to him.

It was relatively rare for sunfire elves to be born with a dominant warmth aspect: during the war, more offensive spells were needed, so the warmth aspect began to dwindle. Now, it was rare to see someone with enough of the warmth aspect to perform that part of the sun’s magic.

She didn’t spare him enough time to think about it longer: she rushed him once more. She jabbed with her left arm, causing Callum to dodge to her right. Unfortunately, that seemed to be exactly what she wanted: she followed with a hook from her right.

Callum leaned back, narrowly avoiding the strike, but that too seemed to have been planned out. She lifted her back knee and planted her foot between Callum’s ribs, knocking him off his feet. 

**“Forma.”** She’d drawn the rune while he was flying backward from her kick. In her hands was a mage spear. It was an interesting spell, but he had no chance to admire it: she jumped toward him, intending to bring the spear down on his head. 

He didn’t have time to think. He drew the runes without a second thought. **“Aspiro Manga!”** He blew as hard as he could, and she flew back, far enough to give him a chance to stand. 

She got to her feet faster than he would have liked, but didn’t attack him. “That was… a sky spell?” Crap. The cat was out of the bag. 

He didn’t want to stick around any longer: if he did, who knew what would happen? 

Both of her arms went to the air to show she meant no further harm, but Callum didn’t want to give her a chance. He drew the rune he had in mind and uttered the words. **“Excandescunt!”** The brightest light he could muster glowed in front of him. 

His opponent had to cover her eyes, giving him a chance to turn and run. She cried out for him to wait, but he ignored her. 

He made it back to the palace promptly. What the hell was that? 

[~-~] 

Callum took out the cube; three of the six sides lightly glowed their respective colors. “I miss you… dad.” He thought back to the letter his father had left him. He’d left it with his other belongings at the Storm Spire: they needed to travel light. 

He put the cube back away: he still couldn’t believe that he was in Xadia, learning magic from real masters. He was sad to see Rayla’s parents go: after all, they would be his own parents soon enough. It wouldn’t be the same, but it would probably fill at least a little bit of the gap left by his own parents. 

He couldn’t help but shed a tear. He wiped it away swiftly: he’d already mourned his parents. They wouldn’t want him to do it again. He heard a knock and got up. “Cal, are you ready? They’re leaving.” 

He walked to the door and opened it. Rayla was standing on the other side, waiting patiently for him. “Are you okay?” She must have seen the red around his eyes. “Yeah. Just a little emotional this morning, that’s all.” 

She gave him a hug. “It’ll be alright, Callum. You’ll see them again, I promise.” 

He pulled back and smiled at her. “Shouldn’t I be the one comforting you?” 

Her smile faltered just a little bit. Maybe that wasn’t the best choice of words. “Nah, I’m fine.” 

Her relationship with her parents was still far from what it should have been: perhaps they could fix that sometime. 

Callum joined his hand with hers, and they took off to see their parents leave the city. They’d adjusted their handholding style a bit; it wasn’t quite as comfortable as before, but it was an improvement. 

They neared the door to the main courtyard, where Rayla’s parents waited for them. They opened it and stepped out into the light of day to say their goodbyes. Callum didn’t even tear up this time, as much as he felt like it. 

“Just remember what we talked about, honey.” Tia eyed Rayla playfully. What had they talked about? Rayla punched her mom on the shoulder, blushing a deep red. Seriously, what had they talked about? 

Lain put his hand on Callum’s shoulder. “Listen. I know we weren’t too kind to you when you first saved our lives, but… We’re so grateful to you. You’re like our own son.” 

Callum flinched. “Thank you.” Should he say any more than that? Was Lain’s gesture enough for him to start treating him like a father? He’d waited for too long with his own father. It had been too late, and he’d never had the chance to reciprocate the feelings they had both been terrible at showing. Lain continued to watch him think this through. No, he didn’t need to think it through. He wouldn’t wait. Not this time. He felt tears prickle the back of his eyes. “Dad.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a big fan of the idea that Rayla's parents treat Callum as their own. It just feels right.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	36. Innovation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum spars with Rolan's master!

Callum searched for deception in Rolan’s gaze, and found none. “It’s alright. I’m sorry I lost my cool like that. Maybe we could try again sometime.” He glanced up at Khuz, who seemed satisfied with the exchange.

“I want to ask, though… What was that? I’ve never seen anything like it!” Oh. He looked over at Rolan’s teacher, who was eying him intently. He’d told no one about what had happened the previous day. Truthfully, Callum was more confused than anything else.

“Uh, well… I don’t really understand it too well either. What I know is that it’s connected to my emotions.”

Even though they were well above the age at which you’d expect to see this reaction, his new friend’s eyes lit up and he grinned a wide, toothy grin. “That is so cool!” 

Callum held back a blush. Yeah, it was pretty cool.

He looked back over to where Rolan’s teacher had been, and she’d gone. Mysteriously, so had his own teacher. 

The two of them appeared around the corner, and they returned to their respective disciples. Khuz spoke up first. “We’ve decided to switch things up for today.” What was that supposed to mean? “Today, we’ll be going to the arena, but Rolan, you’ll spar with me. Callum, you’ll go with Master Sira.” He gestured toward Rolan’s teacher. So that was her name. 

If Khuz trusted her, she couldn’t be that dangerous. Well, at least she couldn’t mean to hurt him, at least. Callum was certain that she could be dangerous if she wanted to be.

The group moved toward the door leading to the arena, and split from there.

Callum and Sira moved in silence to their end of the arena until he Callum spoke up. “So… Would you care to let me know what yesterday was all about?”

She sighed. “I was just curious. I never thought you’d actually have two arcanums in you.”

“Well, three.”

She looked at him, shocked. “Three?”

“Well, maybe like, two and a half. My moon arcanum is a little messed up.”

She recovered from her initial shock and shrugged. “Well, I can’t really help you there. But there’s so much I’d like to ask you!”

Oh. So this would be much less a sparring match than a storytelling session.

As if seeing the disappointment on his face, she laughed. “Don’t worry. This won’t be boring for you, I promise.”

She had apparently decided that they would fight while talking. While it wouldn’t have been a problem for a seasoned warrior, he… was not one. The only reason he was able to put up a fight against her was because of his air sense, and he needed to focus to use that.

She didn’t give him much of a chance to object, though, and started the match with a kick from her right side. It was to his head, so he ducked it. “So,” She chambered another kick. “Tell me about how you got the sky arcanum. He moved to his left to avoid the kick.

“I can’t really…” The act of speaking broke his focus, and he let another kick plant itself in his abdomen.

“Are you feeling okay? You were way better when you fought me before.”

Should he explain air sense to her? Yeah, probably. “I’m not good at fighting… even more so while talking. I’m only able to dodge because I can sense the air currents around you as you attack.” She looked a little puzzled, but seemed to get it. “Plus, I only got away from you yesterday because I used sky magic, which I’m not supposed to.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m learning Sun Magic. Khuz told me to use only sun magic while I’m learning it.”

She snickered, and walked toward Khuz without saying anything else.

She stopped their match, much to Rolan’s relief, and seemed like she was asking Khuz a question. He facepalmed, sighed, and then nodded. What did she ask him?

Sira walked back over to him and smirked. “Okay. I want you to fight me with everything you’ve got. Sky magic included.”

“What? Why? I thought the point of this was to help me learn sun magic?”

“Cos I wanna see you at your best.”

Well, he couldn’t deny that he wanted to use some sky magic. It felt like it’d been forever since he’d used it last. “Okay… Sure.”

He readied himself. “Just because you’re a sun magic student, that doesn’t mean I’ll take it easy on you!” She grinned. “I hear you’re a master of sky magic! I want a challenge!” She sounded absolutely crazy.

Callum took a step back and readied himself. He would need a plan: his opponent was much more experienced than he was.

He didn’t have a chance to really come up with one, however, as she began drawing runes without a countdown. The rune she drew… was three layered? Crap. While he had been given the title of master, Ibis had warned him not to use super powerful spells, as his sky arcanum still hadn’t fully manifested physically into his body. That meant that he couldn’t draw as much power as he may have needed for a more powerful spell, and it would strain his body.

He drew the fire protection spell, as her three runes would take longer, and used it. **“Ignis Praesidio.”** He felt the warmth wash over him as he prepared to avoid her spell.

She cast it with apparent ease. **“Turbine Ignis!”** Not good. A large flame appeared over her head. Callum knew what came next, and knew he had to move quickly. 

He drew the rune: **“Aspiro Frigus!”** Instead of directing it at the attack, he started to run, and began to blow on the ground in front of him. Behind him, smaller fires broke off of the main one and attempted to strike him. Luckily, he was moving fast enough that they missed him, though his path melted behind him 

He directed his icy path toward his opponent. He didn’t have the stamina to match hers, but he could possibly catch her off guard and finish the match with a large spell. 

He ran out of breath and immediately stepped off the ice, facing Sira, who was panting slightly. 

>The thing was, neither of their primal sources were heavily present in this room. They were both tiring pretty quickly, so Callum knew that she would soon resort to physical combat. When she did, he would hit her with a spell. 

Just as he suspected, she was rushing him. Well, he could probably just use a normal spell, but there’s something he’s been wanting to try for quite a while. It was just a theory, but he would try it nonetheless. 

As she approached him, he drew a two-layered rune. One of them was sky blue, and the other was the orange-red of sun magic. He drew a large breath, and tried it out. **“Aspiro Ignus!”**

It was a sensation he’d never felt before: the mingling of the two primal sources within him was a funny feeling. As he exhaled through the runes, a stream of fire shot from his mouth, and at his opponent. 

She seemed to be caught off guard by this spell: after all, it had been of his own creation. “Woah! What the hell was--” Callum turned his head as she dodged the initial stream: the fire moved with his breath. Caught flatfooted, she didn’t have enough time to dodge once again, and she was consumed by his attack. 

He stopped immediately and rushed to her aid, not knowing the power of the spell he’d just used. 

She was lying on her back: a few of her hairs were on fire. “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah. You got me good.” She sat up and winced. She quickly drew the rune and mumbled, **“Sana.”**

Callum thought about it. He’d just used two different primal sources to cast a spell. Had that ever been done? 

Khuz marched over, having seen his display. “What the hell was that?” 

Callum beamed at his teacher. “I made up a spell!” He was understandably proud of himself: not only was he learning magic, but he was creating new magic, too. “Apparently you can combine two primal sources to cast a spell.” 

His teacher flinched, and stared over Callum’s head. “You… need to leave.” 

What? “What are you…” 

“You need to go. Now. I’m not your mentor any more.” What the hell? 

“What are you talking about?” 

Khuz raised his hand, preparing to draw a rune. Really? Callum thought they had been friends. They’d spent weeks together working, and now… He was treating him as a stranger. “Fine.” He walked out of the room, and left his teacher’s house. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure about what it's called, but I'm pretty sure there's a trauma related to being betrayed. I.e, Callum is too similar to his old student.


	37. 2/3

Well, that made two teachers that have expelled him. Callum understood Lujanne’s reasoning, at least a little bit. Khuz though? He just up and told him to leave out of nowhere.

It wasn’t like Callum to brood, but he felt that this particular occasion was deserving. He walked the path that he had the day prior, where Sira had attacked him. What changed Khuz’s mind? Was it the mixed spell? That didn’t seem right. If it was some kind of heretical thing, Rayla would have told him. After all, he’d discussed the idea with her before.

He came across the area where Sira had stopped him: she was there then, too. “Uh… Hey.”

“Hey, kiddo.” Were they close enough for that? Whatever. “Sorry about Khuz. He saw you and couldn’t help but think of Elarion. I’ll talk to him later.” Elarion?

“Who’s Elarion? Or what’s Elarion?” He wasn’t sure which.

Sira chuckled and matched his pace. “It’s both. And a long story. You got time?”

Callum smirked and looked at the sky. “Well, let me check my schedule. I’m a very busy man, you know.”

She laughed at him. “You really are just like her.”

So Elarion was a her.

“It was a long time ago: in a time before Xadia was split in two.” Oh. It was a serious story. Callum’s expression sobered to match. “Very few humans interacted with elves on a personal level. Back then,” She looked at the sky and let out a sigh. “Humans didn’t hunt elves. It was the other way around.”

Callum grimaced. These were the stories he didn’t like to hear. Viren would go on and on about how humans had been inferior beings until they were capable of dark magic. He didn’t like it, but he was curious, anyway.

“Elarion was… different.” They stopped at an intersection to let a large carriage pass. “She had a knack for magic that trumped even those of elves. Alas, she couldn’t use magic without a primal stone.” Well, at least she didn’t think she could. “That’s where Khuz comes in.” Wait, they were hundreds of years old?

Callum let the puzzled look creep across his face. “How old are you guys, exactly?”

“That’s rude.” Callum had heard that it was rude to ask a woman her age, but his curiosity got the better of him. “But, since it’s relevant to the story… I’m about 800 years old.” 800. She’d been alive since before Katolis was founded. Crazy.

Callum snapped out of his awe and motioned for Sira to continue her story. They were nearing the palace now, and he had planned to talk to Rayla about leaving.

“Anyway, Elarion approached Khuz about learning sun magic.” They were at the palace gates now. “Khuz agreed to teach her, so that she might bridge the gap between humans and elves. Khuz was always soft like that.” Her hand found Callum’s shoulder. “She stole his primal stone once she’d learned all he could teach her, and left Lux Aurea.” She sighed. “There’s more to that story, but it’s not mine to tell. All I can say is that you remind him of her too much. He’s broken, and…” She sighed again. “It’s not going to be that easy to fix it. Just… give him a break, okay?”

Callum understood the feeling of being betrayed by someone you trusted. After all, his father’s best friend had tried to get Callum and his brother killed a multitude of times. “All right. I don’t think he’s gonna change his mind very soon, though. Right?”

She sadly nodded. “I would teach you myself, but… he needs you. He needs to learn to connect with someone like you again.”

“Okay. Tell him I’ll see him again, no matter what. I think Rayla and I might be ready to move on from here, anyway.”

“Good luck out there. I mean it.” She smiled at him before turning away and vanishing into the crowd.

[~-~]

“Hey, Ray, can we talk a bit?” When was he gonna learn that he didn’t need permission?

Rayla rolled her eyes. “Yes, Callum.” She’d been meaning to talk to him, as well.

“I think I’m gonna have to put off learning Sun Magic for a while.” What?

“Why? What happened?”

“Khuz isn’t ready to keep teaching me, yet. I think he’s dealing with some kind of trauma, and I’m making it worse. We can come back some other time.”

Huh. As much as she would’ve liked to punch that sunfire elf in the mouth, she had to admit his timing was impeccable. Besides, Callum looked skilled enough. Rayla was ready to leave Lux Aurea: they’d been there for at least a month, and she wasn’t exactly accustomed to city life.

In fact, the only reason why she was here was for Callum. He seemed to not be too upset about it, so Rayla decided to push her own idea. “Well, Cal, there is a festival in the Silvergrove coming up. Do you… wanna go?” His face lit up.

“That sounds fun, sure!” He was just like a little kid sometimes. “We can leave tomorrow!”

Wow, he seemed really into this idea. It made sense, though. She’d been kind of just going along with whatever it was he wanted to do. Now, she was suggesting something. “Well, don’t look forward to it too much.” She wrapped her arm around his waist and pulled him close. “After all, there’s still tonight to enjoy.” They were both blushing deeply now, as much as she’d tried to play it cool.

Some light traveling, a festival, no threats to anybody’s life; it was gonna be nice.


	38. A Push

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum has stayed in the Silvergrove for a little too long.

Aaravos was patient; it was one of the many things about himself that he took pride in. However, he wasn’t that patient. The boy had spent far too long lollygagging around the Silvergrove. Aaravos had planned everything perfectly, and having one’s plans delayed because of a child’s playful tendencies was… A tad frustrating.

Aaravos realised after the first month Callum was in the Silvergrove that he would have to give the boy a push in the right direction.

“See? Now you can be sure that my loyalty is true.” He’d easily maneuvered his avatar into Viren’s prison: honestly, the boy’s spell was a difficult one to break. All the more reason why Aaravos would need him in particular.

“If you were truly loyal, you’d die.” Viren glared at him. He still had the magic eye Aaravos had gifted him, so he could still project his form before Viren.

“Now, if I was dead, how could I serve you?” He still wore the same smile.

Viren continued to pant, clutching his knees. “Fine. I trust you.” Aaravos could see through his lie from a mile away, but dismissed it. “What’s the new ‘plan?’”

Aaravos chuckled. “First, would you like to get out of here?”

Viren paused, and straightened. “...Yes.”

Viren considered himself a master of manipulation; it was true that he deceived his kingdom as well as his family, but he was still foolish in Aaravos’s eyes. All men like him were.

[~-~]

First, that brat needed to be taken care of. Luckily, Viren wasn’t far from the castle of Katolis. He’d led the armies against him during the Battle of the Storm Spire. Although it was impressive, the boy was still a hindrance and needed to be removed.

As a plus, once the other stupid whelp hears of his brother’s downfall, he’ll come running right into a trap.

Now, Viren hadn’t extracted an enormous amount of power from the dragon, but it was enough to not require a reagent for particular spells. That much was enough, for sure. After all, Viren had made sure that there were no mages in Katolis who could stand up to him.

The only one who stood a chance against him was his daughter, but he had ideas on how to deal with her.

He looked over at Aaravos. The man continued to follow Viren silently, as if he’d already predicted Viren’s actions. The thought sent a chill down his spine, but he didn’t have time to worry about it. He would take Katolis that night.

[~-~]

The festival had been more or less a bust. Callum had tried to dance with Rayla, but the floor cleared out as soon as he stepped on it with his fiance. He guessed it had something to do with his moon arcanum.

Now, they were in their own dwelling: it wasn’t truly theirs, but they’d been using it.

Rayla cooking was a disaster, but they’d had a long day, and Rayla worked hard on this meal. Before him was a plate, full of somewhat familiar fruits and vegetables. There were potatoes, each slightly burnt and caked in seasoning. He’d save those for later. He turned to the other side of his plate, which was stacked with an assortment of different types of berries. That was probably a good place to start. Finally, the largest portion of his plate looked like a deep jungle: there were some vegetables with thorns, some covered in a viscous slime.

“Thanks, moonlight. It looks great.” She sat down in front of him at the small table they shared. When she did, her feet found their place on top of his. For some reason, they ate like this most nights. Callum smiled. Even when their hands were busy, some part of them wanted to continue to embrace.

Callum picked up a moonberry and popped it in his mouth. “Oh, right, I almost forgot!” He got up, and retrieved two cups from a nearby cabinet. He walked back over to the table, set them down, and took a breath. He drew a small rune, and muttered, **“Pluvia.”** A small raincloud appeared over the cup and drained its contents. Then, he drew another rune, this one purple, and said another word: **“Fragum.”** He set his left cup down in front of Rayla and sat back down.

“It’s been so nice to just sit down at home for a while.” Rayla ate a few berries, seeming to be just as afraid of her cooking as Callum was.

“Yeah. the Silvergrove is really peaceful.” Callum responded, hesitantly picking up his fork and stabbing a potato.

“You’re not wrong, but that’s not what I meant.” He tore his eyes away from his… ‘food,’ and looked her in the eye. “I’m happy to be with you. Especially when we don’t have to worry about much.”

He felt the same way. He wanted to finish his journey, but after all they’d been through over the past few months, it couldn’t hurt to take a break. He reached for her hand.

Suddenly, he heard someone. It was a deep, soothing voice. It was somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

He retracted his hand without thinking, and pinched his nose. “Callum, is everything alright?”

“Yeah, Ray, just gimme a second.” She looked a little concerned: he didn’t blame her. Every time he’d ever had something going on with his head, it had been a life-or-death situation.

V  
…  
Vir  
…  
Viren.

He shuddered. What was happening? The voice was clear enough to understand now.

Your brother.

Callum gasped and stood, immediately. Rayla said something, but he couldn’t hear her. He shut his eyes, and felt them open somewhere else. He saw Viren with his staff, coaxing his daughter. He couldn’t hear anything, but he could read the man’s lips.

The only thing he could get from it was horrifying. “Kill the King.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the missed upload yesterday: I got caught up with other stuff and didn't get a chance to write. Hope you enjoy this chapter!


	39. The Bitter End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum faces Viren… Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Graphic descriptions of violence in this chapter. If it's not your thing, skip this chapter and I'll write a short summary at the start of next chapter.

His eyes shot open, and he turned to Rayla. He had to go help Ezran… But Rayla? She would want to come for sure, but it was Viren. There was no telling what could happen.

He thought back to their agreement, though, and decided. No suffering alone.

“Rayla, we need to go back to Katolis. It’s Viren.”

She gasped, but steeled herself. She nodded at him dutifully, and began to gather her necessities. Blades, assassin gear, a few berries for the road--Callum stopped staring and realised that he should also be preparing to leave.

He got his boots and jacket. He wouldn’t need much for this: any extra weight would slow them down. If they left within the hour, they could arrive in Katolis in a few hours. Fewer if Callum didn’t take breaks.

Of course, he wouldn’t take breaks. Ezran was in danger. While the crownguard was adequate, Viren was a vicious dark mage, and if Claudia decided to join forces with him…? He didn’t want to think about it. Claudia turned over a new leaf. Ezran would be fine.

They left a note for Rayla’s parents, and took off into the night.

[~-~]

“We imprisoned you once, Viren. We’ll do it again.” Opeli. The righteous, loyal, proper thorn in Viren’s side stood before him once again.

“You misunderstand the situation once again. You were allowed to imprison me.” Viren raised his staff: Aaravos had once again lent him power, and this time, Viren would keep it for as long as he needed it.

Opeli raised her hand, and her archers nocked their arrows. This was met with a swing of Viren’s staff: he didn’t even need to do anything else, as Aaravos was drawing runes for him.

In front of his staff’s sweep ice started to form, and it soon enveloped the force Opeli had brought to take him down. “Pathetic.”

He walked past the people he’d just frozen, shuddering slightly. After all, he’d been trapped in an iceberg a while ago.

He opened the door they had been guarding where the child sat upon his throne. He immediately stood up, shocked. “Viren!”

The rest of the room looked up from what they were doing and quickly fled the room. When Viren became king he had some loyalty issues to work out. 

“Dad.” He looked up and saw his traitorous son.

“You. You aren’t my son. You’re nothing more than a traitorous dog.” Viren was shaking, now. His son was, too, but for a vastly different reason.

Soren became still, and met his father’s eyes, also drawing his sword. “I’m not gonna let you hurt Ezran, even if you are my dad.”

Viren had just disowned the boy, and he still insisted on calling him ‘dad?’ What a moron. He had always taken after his mother, anyway.

Viren raised his staff, when his daughter burst in from a side door. What? Viren had frozen her in ice: how had she escaped? “Dad, stop! Just go!” She was just like the rest. So eager to leave him.

He held his staff, ready to put it to use. Aaravos stood in his view, shaking his head. Not that Viren really cared. Even if no one understood him, he was going to do what was right.

By making the difficult decisions.

_By killing a child?_

By making sacrifices.

_Murdering your own kids?_

Saving humanity.

_Commiting genocide?_

Viren couldn’t understand why he was thinking this way… _Seeing the evil on the other end._

No. There was no evil in what he was doing, _even though he was trying to hurt the people who cared about him._

Even if no one understood, _even if he hurt the people he loved,_

He knew-- _thought_ \--what he was doing was for the good of _himself._ No, it was for humanity! Wasn’t it? _Or had he been deceiving himself alongside his followers?_

No. He was well past the point of questioning his actions.

He would see this to the bitter end.

[~-~]

Callum flew faster than he’d ever flown before. The air whizzing past their heads blew their hair in the opposite direction, where it stuck. Any other time, it would have been funny, but… Now wasn’t the time for humor.

The castle grew in view quickly, and it wasn’t another minute before they were upon it. It was dark, but that wasn’t a real problem for Callum. He looked around for a sign of guards protecting the walls, but they were nowhere to be found. He did find one silhouette, though. In fact, it was the exact man he’d been looking for.

It was a little weird, though. He was… holding onto someone? He listened close. “Now, the King of Katolis is going to fall mysteriously from his castle.” His voice sounded shaky, as if questioning himself. That didn’t matter, though. Ezran was in danger.

“Ray,” he whispered. “I’m gonna drop you off here. I can only carry one person at a time. Don’t fight him without me.” He felt her nod, and she dropped from his back.

Seconds later, a scream rang out, and Callum took a nosedive. “Ez, grab onto me!” His brother looked up at him with immediate relief, and he reached for Callum, managing to grab onto his shoulders, and Callum flew toward the main gate of the castle. Surely there were guards there.

He arrived, and immediately began to control the situation. He made sure his brother was in safe hands, and then told the remaining troops to form a perimeter: Viren couldn’t be allowed to escape.

He took off once again, and sped back towards his enemy.

To his horror, he heard the sound of metal clashing, signifying that there was a fight happening.

Rayla.

[~-~]

It wasn’t exactly going to plan. Aaravos had failed to account for Viren’s unstable mental state, unfortunately, and so this had turned in a direction he hadn’t predicted.

He thought that Viren would incite Callum enough to make the boy more apt to continue his training. Instead, he decided to murder the boy’s brother. As much as he hated to admit it, his plan had failed horribly, and he was incapable of stopping it. His avatar didn’t hold enough power to stop the man.

The only thing he could do was watch. There was no end to the hate he felt toward the room he was trapped in. If it wasn’t for Avizandum, he would still be wandering the world, completing his goals.

Alas, his daydreams were only those, and he resolved to watch the battle play out before him.

The little moonshadow elf was a good fighter, but Viren was a skilled dark mage with part of the dragon prince’s power within him. The only way for this battle to end favorably was for the boy to return and use another powerful spell like before. However, that had been on the Sky Nexus, and this castle wasn’t high enough to compare. Still, the boy had been growing in power since that day, so really, anything could happen.

The boy landed behind Viren just as he was about to cast a spell on the girl. It looked to be a lightening spell, but Aaravos wasn’t close enough to tell. Callum called out, causing the dark mage to turn his attention on him. It was a good thing, too, as the elf looked somewhat injured already.

He focused enough to hear the dialogue. First, Viren spoke. “There you are. I was hoping to pay you back for what happened earlier.”

Viren raised his staff, but Callum was faster. The boy drew like a real master. In fact, he was a genius. Aaravos saw qualities in him that he’d only ever seen in himself. Each unnamed lightning blast from Viren was met with an appropriate fulminis, and, fortunately, each attempt at freezing the boy was countered by an intense Calor spell.

Unfortunately, Callum’s body didn’t have the time it needed to adjust to his arcanums before he started engaging in heavy combat like this.

Viren, on the other hand, didn’t have any issue with stamina; he was using something else’s power.

Suddenly Callum was being pushed back: day was beginning to break, but it wasn’t nearly enough for a powerful sun spell. Meanwhile, a powerful sky spell wasn’t out of the question, but Viren had a special, temporary resistance to sky magic. He was burning through the power he’d stolen from the dragon prince like a candle. If Callum could just hold out until Viren burned himself out, he’d win the battle.

That didn’t appear to be his plan, however. In fact, the boy had quite the spectacular light show planned. It wasn’t something Aaravos had ever seen or thought of, despite being an archmage himself. The boy once again proved that he was a genius, much like himself, and only one other. She was a different case, though. Not relevant to this moment.

What Callum did made Aaravos gape: this was quite the feat. He’d never even considered the possibility combining multiple arcanums to cast a spell.

Soon enough, Callum had drawn a four-layered rune: two were of the sky arcanum, and two were of the sun. He listened closely: this would be the first time Aaravos learned something from someone else in centuries.

 **“Conflatilum Tempestas!”** A large, swirling flame formed before him. It grew in size until it was like a tornado made purely of fire. Viren, being the arrogant man that he was, failed to see the danger of the situation, and attempted to face it.

The flaming tempest consumed the man: his screams rang out as his flesh crumpled away to reveal his true face: tainted by dark magic. It, too, melted away as Viren found himself unable to escape, and he burned to death long before Callum could cancel the spell. The smell was beyond unpleasant.

Aaravos eyed the boy: he was curious to see the aftereffects of such a spell. He was also concerned for his safety, but Aaravos wasn’t one to lie to himself. His curiosity always took priority over his other emotions.

Callum fell to his knees and vomited. Even though it had been melting in his stomach, its contents were mysteriously… unfoodlike. 

The moonshadow elf ran to him, avoiding the burned corpse of her former enemy. She grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into a deep hug, stifling weeps and clutching his shoulders. Ah. It had been her cooking he’d thrown up. Of course.

He was getting distracted. Even though his former ‘partner’ had perished, his avatar still had free reign in the world, and Aaravos intended to use it. For the first time in a millenia, Aaravos was excited: he was going to get to learn something _new!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought for a while about what POV to write the fight scene in, but I decided on Aaravos. I don't know what it is, but something about him is interesting to write. I had tried it with either Callum or Viren's, but neither really felt right.
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter!


	40. Murderer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum tries to come to terms with his actions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Previously on Trading Life for Love: Viren continues to descend into madness, attacks and attempts to kill Ezran. When Viren dropped Ez off the castle wall, Callum caught him and brought him to safety. Then, he went back to do battle with Viren. It was even for a while, but Callum didn't have to stamina to match Viren, especially not at night and without an intact moon Arcanum.
> 
> Callum casts a sun-sky spell as the sun rises, and (somewhat) accidentally kills Viren.

Callum couldn’t seem to stop shaking. He didn’t exactly regret what had just happened, but he couldn’t help but feel… Wrong. Uncomfortable, similar to the time he had used dark magic. They had long since removed Viren’s corpse, but he couldn’t help but return to the scene of their battle.

There had been another way to solve the problem. Callum tried to tell himself that it was the only way, but he’d made too many excuses for himself in the past. He wouldn’t run from this consequence. He had killed a man with his magic. Callum was a murderer.

Even if it was in self defense, it didn’t feel right. He hadn’t intended for his magic to kill Viren, but he had been desperate, and something big like that seemed to be the solution. 

Callum walked the top of the wall by himself, feeling nauseous as he approached the spot. The structure was still damaged from the previous night’s battle. The farther he walked, the more he felt the urge to vomit. The smell and scorch marks remained even after the guards’ attempts to clean it.

He came to a stop. This was it. His shaking was ceaseless, and he crouched to inspect the spot once again.

It was a different kind of pain. Not one that incited tears, but a pang pulling on his heart, threatening to make it sink. 

It made him think. Who was he to try to become a powerful mage? If he couldn’t control himself… if he was going to kill people...

“Callum.” It was Rayla. He’d asked to go for this walk alone, but truly he did want the company. Not that he felt he was deserving.

“H-hey, Ray. Just wanted to see how well this is cleaning up.” He faked a smile. “I’d hate to have left a permanent mess here.”

Her brow furrowed with concern, and it seemed like she was ready to cry. Knowing her, she probably blamed herself for him killing Viren. It wasn’t her fault, of course, but she would blame herself anyway. “Cal…” She walked up to him and pressed her hand against his cheek. Callum hadn’t realised how cold he felt until then.

His hand met hers on his cheek. “Yeah, sorry.” He looked down, unable to meet her eyes. “Let’s go somewhere else.” He didn’t want to be here, but it didn’t feel right to not visit. Well, calling it a visit didn’t exactly do it justice. Callum didn’t really know what he was looking for, but…

She took his hand and gingerly walked away from the scene. “Have you… talked to anyone else yet?”

How could he? He’d killed someone. Callum was certain that Ezran wouldn’t want to see him; he was a killer. His brother’s view of him had undoubtedly changed. The only other people he would want to talk to were Viren’s children… Needless to say, that was also out of the question. “No. I don’t think I should.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean?”

How could he phrase something like this? Well, it didn’t seem like he had to. Rayla had a knack for understanding him.

“You know, Ezran is worried about you. You guys were so close a year ago.”

Callum’s tears finally found their way to his eyes. “I guess I’m not really the person he knew a year ago.”

“Cal I get it. But please, don’t beat yourself up over this.” She took both of his shoulders now. “It’s okay. You did what you have to.” She pressed her forehead against his in a way that was somehow more intimate than a kiss. “Growing up, Runaan taught me an old adage. ‘We take life, but we do not take it lightly.’ Do you know what it means?

He had an idea, but he wanted her to explain it to him. Listening to her melted his worries away.

“The way you feel is normal. You did what had to be done. Viren wasn’t going to stop until he really hurt someone. You took a life, but saved many others.” It made sense to him, but it didn’t necessarily make him feel a whole lot better.

“Thanks, Ray.” Something in his voice caught Rayla’s attention, but she didn’t break from their embrace. What Callum was going through wouldn’t stop because of a pep talk. Not that it didn’t help, of course. It would take time. “I guess I probably should talk about it more.”

[~-~]

Aaravos’s plan totally backfired. The boy had never killed before, how could he not have known! He was zero out of two for recent predictions. Zero percent wasn’t exactly a good ratio. That wasn’t the point, though. Instead of putting Callum in a situation where he would be incentivized to get stronger, the kid now blamed himself for the blood on his hands. What’s worse, he was questioning his worthiness to learn magic.

In all of his time, he’d only ever seen one other person who was as worthy of her power. She’d done everything for her people, and was met with death. This child had a similar chance; to change the course humanity was headed towards, but he was about to throw it away. 

Damnit. He didn’t want to intervene any more than he had already, especially since his other plans had failed. Perhaps this called for something other than manipulation, though. Maybe Callum was open to reason.

He didn’t want to give away the secrets of his life, but he feared that dishonesty would prove counterproductive.

For the first time in… ever, Aaravos would partake in Big Feelings Time.


	41. Big Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A whole chapter of Big Feelings time!

Soren had mixed feelings. Of course, he didn’t blame Callum for what had happened. At the Battle of the Storm Spire, Soren had been willing to kill his father to protect Ezran. In fact, he’d killed his clone thinking it was really him.

It felt different, though. Someone else had killed his father. There was some sort of reaction he didn’t understand. He knew that Callum simply did what he had to to protect everyone, but… For some reason, there was still a tinge of hate in the very back of his mind. He didn’t get it.

Callum seemed to be more broken up about it than either of them, that is, Soren and Claudia. Soren understood that part perfectly. He’d killed people before. Assassins, mostly. When he’d done it, though, there was a sense of duty overriding his other emotions. When everything calmed down, he was hit with the realisation that he’d ended people’s lives.

Callum didn’t have that same buffer. He’d burned his opponent to death, and watched it all. It wasn’t quick like sword wound. It was grueling and terrible: Soren had seen his father’s corpse. Smelt it too. Nothing about that day was pretty.

Soren’s thoughts were interrupted by Callum entering the room, looking a little better, but not by much. Callum had called Claudia and Soren together to talk. “H...hey.” He still couldn’t meet their eyes.

Soren mustered all of his big-brotherly spirit. His friend was suffering because he protected the kingdom. There was no more to discuss than that. Soren got up from his chair and walked over to Callum. Claudia still remained seated. “Hey, Prince.” He’d stopped calling Callum a ‘step-prince,’ but he still needed a nickname. Soren wasn’t the most creative guy out there.

Soren grabbed his shoulder and led him toward the table where Claudia still sat. Her expression was stoic, but he could tell that she was struggling. “So… what did you want to talk to us about?” Claudia finally spoke up; her voice strained.

Callum sat at the table adjacent to Soren. “I… am sorry. About what happened with Viren.” Soren noticed his throat moving in a weird pattern. Was he gagging? Well, Soren wanted to puke after killing those people, too. He understood.

“It’s fine, Callum. You did what you had to do.” Soren comforted him. 

Claudia shot a shocked glance at her brother. “Fine? Fine? Soren, he killed our dad!” Callum’s gaze fell.

Damnit, Clauds. Now’s not the time. “Dad would have killed him, and Ezran, and probably us too.” He missed his father. It was messed up. Even though he knew how his father truy was, Soren missed him.

She scoffed at him. “I don’t know how you can support him, after you saw what he did. The aftermath. He could have done it without burning him to death.”

Soren opened his mouth to argue, but Callum spoke first. “You’re right.” Both of the siblings looked at him. “I went way too far. I didn’t mean for what happened to happen, but… I went too far.” He was back to shaking again.

Soren didn’t know what to say to that. It seemed as if Claudia had heard enough, however. She stood up and walked over to Callum. “Look at me.” He did, and she slapped him across the face. What the hell, Claudia?

Callum didn’t really respond. He’d really grown up since he first left Katolis. Soren stood up too, and walked to the prince.

Hugging had never really been Soren’s thing, but he knew that Callum liked them. He wrapped his arms around his friend and hugged him out of his chair. “I know what you’re going through. I get it. I forgive you. Now you have to try to forgive yourself, okay?” He set Callum down.

“Thanks, Soren.” The slap was starting to form a welt on the side of his face. 

“Man, she really let loose on you, didn’t she?”

[~-~]

Ezran had been worried; Callum had always been an emotional person, even more than he was. That’s why he was so relieved when Callum said he wanted to talk about it. Ezran almost immediately pushed his other engagements away.

Callum entered Ezran’s bedroom. There was a swelling welt on the left side of his face. “What happened?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

Hm. “Come sit down with me.” His brother complied.

“Ez…” Callum flopped down on the bed beside him. “How do you think of me?”

Oh. Was that what he was worried about? That he’d be seen differently? Ezran chose his words carefully. This was a tender moment. “You’re the best artist I know.” Callum looked over at him. “The coolest mage. A great motivational speaker. A kind prince. My best friend. My big brother.” 

Ezran met his brother’s dumbfounded stare and returned a smile.

Callum processed what Ezran had just said and sat up. Had he said something wrong? “Ezran, since when were you so good at pep talks?” Ezran giggled.

“I learned from a true master.” Ezran sat up now, and hugged his brother. “Callum, I know you’re struggling with this. I’m really happy you came to talk to me.” He really had been worried. They’d grown apart since they separated, but it seemed like that gap was closing.

Callum returned his brother’s hug. “Thanks, Ez.”

Ezran pulled away from his hug after a bit, and looked at Callum’s face. “Seriously, though. What happened?”

Callum winced a little bit.

…

It wasn’t like Ezran to get this mad. Being a king, he had to show a degree of self control. This, however, was not a kingly ordeal. This was personal.

Ezran marched down the hall. He’d told Corvus to locate Claudia and report back to him. She was in the courtyard.

How could she? Callum was suffering enough, and she beats him up after he apologizes? He shouldn’t have had to apologize in the first place!

They’d talked about Viren while he was locked away in the ice. She had been responsible for his resurrection. She’d even killed someone to do it. Ezran wouldn’t have even been in danger in the first place if not for her!

He didn’t blame her, though. He would have brought Harrow back if he could have. It wasn’t what she did that made him mad, but her intolerance of the consequences. If Viren hadn’t been stopped, he could have destroyed the entire kingdom.

He approached the entrance to the courtyard, and opened it. The guards flanking the door stepped behind him to follow.

While Ezran did want to have this conversation in private, he didn’t mind the guards. They were nice: genuine, even.

Claudia was supposedly next to the fountain in the front. Normally, Ezran would stop to admire the gardens surrounding his path, but he was focused now. He wasn’t sure what he’d accomplish, but he needed to talk to her anyway.

“Claudia.” He approached the fountain. She was wearing her normal witch-like clothes. She looked up at the mention of her name.

“Oh.”

He had been mad earlier, but now he was concerned. Claudia was his friend, after all. “What happened with Callum?”

She tensed, as if seeing this confrontation coming. “With all due respect, Ezran, it’s not any of your business.”

Now the anger was starting to return. “Are you kidding me? You hit him for apologizing! My brother! Of course it’s my business!”

She turned from him. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

She started to walk away. He didn’t want to use this card, but she was getting on his nerves. “Claudia, come back here.” He brought out his kingly voice. “That’s an order.” She stopped in her tracks.

She turned to face him, seeming to be forming anger of her own. “Really? Am I just a subject to you now?”

“Talk to me.”

She groaned. “He killed my dad, Ezran! What was I supposed to do?”

“You didn’t see me slapping Runaan, did you?”

She was taken aback. It seemed as if she’d forgotten that they were pretty much in the same boat. She sighed and sat down on the fountain. “He’s gone for good this time. There’s nothing I can do.”

Ezran placed his hand on her back. “It’s not Callum’s fault. I can’t really make you do anything, but… Please, don’t blame him.”

He turned away from her and walked back the way he came. It wasn’t quite as cathartic as he’d hoped, but it did help.

[~-~]

Sleep came more easily than he’d expected it to. What followed was incredibly weird. He found himself in a blank, white room. The same butterfly seemed to be there, waiting for him. “What… is this?”

“It’s a spell. I’m in your dream.” That same low voice echoed around the chamber. “I… want to know how you’re doing.”

“Me?” Did it know what had happened? 

“...Yes.” It answered sparingly.

“Well, who are you? Why are you so interested in me?”

The butterfly hesitated, then sighed. Could butterflies sigh? “I guess my true form is appropriate.” The butterfly’s wings glowed brighter than normal, to the point where Callum couldn’t see. When the glowing stopped, there was an elf where the creature had been.

He was, frankly, beautiful. Sparkles ran up and down his limbs, condensing as they neared his chest. On his chest was a large, dimly glowing sparkle. Was he… a startouch elf? He matched the description he’d heard. Then he remembered: the butterfly had said something before. ‘A Startouch elf always repays his debts.’

“I am Aaravos.” Holy crap. The Aaravos? “I am interested in your affinity for magic.”

Interesting. The only archmage to ever exist was interested in him. Callum recalled Zubeia’s reaction to Callum mentioning Aaravos. What was the cause? Why did she hate him? “So… Why are you here?”

The elf was hesitant still, as if telling the bare truth was difficult. “I am concerned that you will come away from this incident with a fear of magic.”

Well, it was true that he hadn’t used magic since he’d killed Viren. That was mostly for a lack of needing to, though. “I don’t think I’m scared of it, it’s just…” Just what? Was there something he wasn’t telling himself? His mouth moved without the input of his mind. “I don’t know if I should keep learning magic. I didn’t even mean to take someone’s life, but…”

Aaravos let out a genuine smile. “So, if this happens again, will you sit and do nothing?”

Callum was shocked. “Of course not!”

“If you stop learning, this will happen again.” What did he mean? “Control comes with power. This is a learning experience. If you close your mind, you will stop learning. If you stop learning, you will never grow.”

Aaravos’s form began to fade. “Wait, I have so much to ask you!”

He smiled once again. “I’ll keep in touch.”

Callum woke up.

[~-~]

Aaravos thought to himself. Was he making the right decision? The last time he’d done this… No. That was different. He had tried to use Elarion. With this child, he would only act as a guide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	42. Bonus Chapter: Flashback, Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaravos thinks back to when it all started.

The memories of those years came flooding back for Aaravos. The closest thing he’d ever had to family was his adopted daughter; well, calling her that was a bit of a stretch. She was more of a piece on the chess board to him. Still, she was the closest thing to a peaceful life that he’d ever come to. That wasn’t exactly true, either, though. The mirror he was trapped in was pretty tranquil, not that he appreciated it. With tranquility comes deafening silence.

He thought back to those times, centuries ago.

_He’d been assigned a job. Being both the only startouch elf to be born in generations had its perks. He’d outlived the people who had raised him already, and he wasn’t a tenth the way through his life._

__His agreement with the other Xadians was of a mutualistic nature. He’d do what they wanted, and they’d give him whatever he wanted. He lived a pretty lax lifestyle as a result, but it wasn’t exactly satisfying. He’d always wanted more from life, and he had centuries to find out exactly what._ _

___His job that day was to investigate a human settlement. There hadn’t been many, and none of them were like the luxurious cities that elves lived in._ _ _

____Aaravos had always seen it as being unfair, but he didn’t really question it, either. After all, he was an archmage. Humans didn’t even have a single arcanum._ _ _ _

_____He approached the small town which laid adjacent to the coastline. It was pretty smart, for humans. They could fish all they wanted here._ _ _ _ _

______As soon as he set foot inside the town’s boundaries, Aaravos could tell that there was something wrong. There were no humans about, whatsoever. In fact, the only sounds he could hear were from a ways away. Perhaps they were holding a meeting._ _ _ _ _ _

_______He didn’t know what propelled him to investigate further: he could have easily returned with the news that everything had been fine._ _ _ _ _ _ _

________But he did investigate. He walked toward the sounds, becoming increasingly alarmed that there was no one to be found. In fact, the sounds didn’t come from a residence that was within the town. They originated from a house that was close to the shore._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________His pace quickened. It sounded like a battle. It wasn’t any of his business, but… It felt like fate was pushing him to investigate._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Filthy human.” That must be another elf. Aaravos hated the practice, but Elves hunted humans for sport. Callum them ‘The Most Dangerous Game.’ That must be why the town was empty._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________There were sounds of battlecries, and… something else. Something he’d never heard before. It wasn’t often that he got to see something new._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________He moved a bit closer. It sounded like… they were speaking backwards?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________**“Nwo ym emoceb rewop nevle tel!”** A bright light shone through the window Aaravos was peaking through. It was… magic? Magic! These humans were practicing a new type of magic! Perhaps he’d underestimated their value?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________The light found its way to one of the elves that were assaulting the couple, and Aaravos felt the moon arcanum drain from the elf. This was… incredible! Horrifying, but incredible!_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________The fallen elf’s comrade didn’t seem to think it was as interesting as Aaravos did, because she screamed and planted her weapon into the human’s side._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________The human didn’t seem to like the idea of dying in vain, and their eyes glowed purple once more. **“Em htiw gnola uoy semoclew htaed!”** Both of their noses began to bleed, and they started to fall limp. The human’s eyes shot back toward the rear of the house before their breaths ceased._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________This was all so very interesting._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna disperse these between the next few chapters. Hopefully that'll give you both the exposition and the story progression!


	43. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum talks to Aaravos a bit more.

Aaravos’s words echoed through Callum’s mind the next morning. Magic had been the only thing he’d ever been good at. Was it fair to stop trying to learn? It definitely wasn’t for the people around him. Not if what Aaravos said was right.

Callum knew it, too. There would be other challenges he’d need to face, and if he didn’t get over this obstacle, then he’d hurt someone again. Harrow always told him that power came with responsibility, but Callum thought he’d been talking about politics. Now, he wasn’t so sure.

“You alright, Callum?” He and Rayla were eating breakfast with Ezran that morning: thankfully, the king had enough time.

“Yeah, just thinking about a weird dream I had last night.”

“Care to share with the rest of the class?” Rayla’s hand brushed his before returning to her fork.

“I think… Aaravos talked to me in my sleep last night.” Rayla’s fork dropped back onto her plate as she turned to him.

“Wait, you mean…?”

“Who’s Aaravos?” Thats right, Ezran didn’t know.

Calum nodded to Rayla before his brows furrowed once again. “You remember that glowy cube toy that was at the Banther Lodge?” He turned to his brother.

“Yeah?”

“It’s called the Cube of Aaravos. We don’t know much about it, but he’s the only person to ever become an archmage.”

Ezran tilted his head to the side. “You’re speaking magic gibberish again.”

He rolled his eyes; it was a habit he’d picked up from Rayla. “An archmage is someone who masters all the arcanums. He’s the only one who’s been able to do it.”

“Oh.” His head returned to its normal place and he grabbed another jelly tart.

“But Callum, how would he even talk to you? The only things I know about him are that he’s thousands of years old, and that Queen Zubeia doesn’t seem to like him.”

Ezran didn’t seem to like that last bit. “If the dragon queen doesn’t like him, then…”

Callum didn’t really want to talk about it much more. The startouch elf seemed to have struggled to be honest with him, but he had been honest. He could tell that much for sure. There was an ernest tone to his voice that couldn’t be traced to any kind of manipulation.

Besides, he tried to help Callum get through his current trouble. He truly seemed like he was trying to be helpful.

…

Callum saw Aaravos again that next night. “It’s you again.”

The elf’s expression was unchanged. “Yes, it is me.” Was there something wrong?

“So… what is it?” 

Aaravos looked like he wanted to facepalm. “Well, you see, the butterfly you saved was my avatar. It was my only connection to the outside world, and I gave it up to cast the spell allowing me to interact with your dreams.”

Outside world? “What does that mean?”

“I am a prisoner.”

“Who’s prisoner?” This felt more like an interrogation than a conversation, but he couldn’t help but be curious. The greatest mage to exist was a prisoner?

“Well, it was first Luna Tenebris who sent for my head. After the judgement of the half-moon, she learned of my connection to Elarion. When she stepped down as the ruler of Xadia, she dedicated the next part of her life to finding and trapping me.” His skin glistened as he spoke: it would have been distracting if this portion of history wasn’t so interesting. “Under Avizandum’s command.”

Callum had so many questions. Sira had told him that name before; Elarion. She said it was both a person and a place. Which one was he talking about? Who was Luna Tenebris? What was the Judgement of the Half-moon? Why was Aaravos imprisoned, and where? What kind of prison could hold an archmage?

The sheer confusion must have shown on Callum’s face, as Aaravos chuckled and sat. “We’ve got some time.”

What did he want to know, first and foremost? He thought about it, and knew almost immediately. “Which Elarion are you talking about? I’ve heard that it’s both a name and a place.”

The elf remained stoic, but sagged slightly. “Both. The city of Elarion was the person’s namesake. It was meant to be her legacy as well, but…” Aaravos flopped on the white floor beneath them. “Well, humans aren’t the only rotten ones.”

Well, Callum had even more questions now. For now, he decided to move on. “Who is Luna Tenebris?”

“The archdragon of the moon. She ruled soon after Sol Regem went blind.” Oh. This was actual, true history. He was learning from a first-hand source.

Callum was going to continue along with his list of questions, but a major one burned in the back of his mind. “What happened to the city?”

Aaravos sat up, a grimace beginning to form. “I could explain it to you, but this might get the point across better.” Everything went dark, before slowly lighting.

Before Callum was the precipice of a small mountain. A man with white hair stood before the dragon that Callum recognized as Sol Regem. Aaravos stood next to him, explaining the scene.

“This is Ziard. He’s the first major dark mage of his generation. They’re here to talk of a truce. Truly, Sol Regem didn’t care to negotiate with a human.”

The scene played out before them, exactly as it had ages ago. 

_Sol Regem spoke. “Yes, you will be safe high upon this peak. Far, far away from the city of Elarion.”_

_The man, Ziard, looked back at the city behind him and his eyes widened. “You can’t be saying… An entire city! Hundreds of thousands of innocent people! Children!”_

_“Give up dark magic!” The Dragon King bellowed, rising to his feet. “Or I will burn it to ash.”_

_The man’s voice was desperate now. “You wouldn’t…”_

_The dragon exhaled before taking flight toward the city._

Callum could only hear the sound of beating wings and the desperate cries of the man as the scene faded.

“That,” Aaravos said, “Is what happened to Elarion.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone who closely watched the show will maybe spot slight inconsistencies, but most of them are intentional. If you can point them out, I'll let you know If they are, in fact, intentional, and maybe, MAYBE drop some hints, too. If you'd like.


	44. Bonus Chapter: Flashback Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part two of Aaravos's memory.

The human’s research was kept pristinely in the back of their house. It was a little… disconcerting. Lining the walls were jars of plants and insects. There was a single stack of paper on the table, which laid on a plain rug.

The first page read as follows: ‘I’ve discovered a new primal source. For any who read this, use this information wisely. Most importantly, be sure to keep it out of elven hands.’

Well, it would appear that his wishes would not be met. Aaravos grabbed the stack off the desk and took another quick look around the house.

As he approached the door to leave, he heard a muffled cry. A cry? He turned around and investigated further. 

He moved the table and the rug to find a compartment underneath. He opened the trapdoor, ready for anything.

There was a baby laying on the ground at the bottom of the compartment. Well, he’d been ready for almost anything. The decision that Aaravos made that day set his life in a direction he could never have expected.

…

Raising a child wasn’t easy, even for an archmage. She demanded constant attention, but neglected to inform him of what she actually needed. He was typically so good at predictions, and guessing, but this… wasn’t one of those times.

What was worse, he’d been kicked out of the village he’d been staying in. It’s not like he had planned to stay there much longer, but he had brought a human to the illusive moonshadow settlement. Elves never took kindly to humans.

He would have to raise Elarion in the wilds, alone.

…

Years later, she was independent: old enough to learn magic. That had been his intention: he’d never taken on an apprentice, but he needed someone to learn this ‘dark magic’ he’d been learning. Supposedly, if an elf were to use it, the magic would consume them. He was curious, but didn’t have a deathwish.

She would be his apprentice, and then, when she was older, she would become his experiment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've had this idea for another fic floating around in my head for quite a while. I think that I'm going to start writing it soon, so my attention will be split between this one and the new one. There'll be less updates, probably at most one a day.
> 
> If you're interested, it's going to be an Undertale fic, and it's going to be pretty long, I think. If you're a fan of the game, and like my writing, then feel free to check it out! It'll be called 'Determination.'


	45. Resolve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum makes a decision.

Callum’s questions had, for the most part, been answered by the vision. What the scene didn’t explain, however, was what happened to the person Elarion. Before Callum had a chance to ask, he woke up.

The previous two days served to concrete Callum’s conclusion. There were always stronger creatures out there, and wicked people. If a new Viren came along, Callum would need to put a stop to it. He was a strong mage, after all. If he could become an archmage, then there was no doubt people would listen to him. Perhaps, with enough power, he could stop the violence altogether.

Rayla roused soon after he did. The sunlight made her hair glisten. She was beautiful, even when she was barely awake. “Good morning, Ray.”

She returned a warm smile and sat up. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned. Now probably wasn’t the best time to bring up leaving Katolis. Ezran would want them to stay longer, as well.

He would save this conversation for later.

…

“So, when do you want to leave?” That was… surprisingly easy.

“How about tomorrow?” 

“Perfect.” Well, it made sense that Rayla didn’t like Katolis. They shared a good many bad memories here.

“Now we’ve got to tell Ezran.” Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Callum hesitantly got up and opened it. Really, universe? It was Ezran. “You were just gonna leave, just like that? No discussion, no warning, just up and leave me?”

Callum had been dreading this moment ever since he made his decision. He wished Ezran could come with them, but… they both had their own responsibilities to take care of. “Ez, I…”

Callum looked to Rayla for assistance, but she raised her hands in surrender. Traitor. “We’re supposed to be brothers. Tell each other everything!” Ezran’s voice was raising now. Callum could only sulk.

“I… Have things that I need to do. I have my own responsibility now.”

“And I don’t?!” He was… really mad about this.

“Ez, I’m sorry. I should have talked to you first. I…”

Ezran sighed. “No. I shouldn’t have exploded like that. It’s just…” Callum met Ezran’s eyes. “I never get to see you anymore. When I do, it’s because there’s a threat on either of our lives. I wish it was like the old times.”

Callum felt exactly the same way, but his decision was resolute. “I’m… sorry, Ez.”

Ezran pulled Callum into a hug. “Just… come see me tomorrow before you leave, okay?”

“I will.”

…

“So, you’ve made a decision?” Aaravos eyed him expectantly.

It made Callum a little uncomfortable. There had never been someone so interested in his life. Well, Rayla is the exception. 

“Yeah. I’m gonna learn all the magic I can.”

Aaravos smiled at him. “That’s great. If you would like help from me, I would be happy to give it.”

While he had been honest, Callum still held reservations about Aaravos. Queen Zubeia obviously hated him for a reason: Callum had no way of knowing if there was anything awry with him.

“I think I can manage on my own. I’ve gone this far, at least.”

The elf lightly scoffed, and sat on the ground. “Boring.”

Callum realised that he’d just turned down tutelage from an archmage.

Well, there was one question he could ask: it couldn’t hurt too much. “Can I ask you a question, though?”

Aaravos’s head lifted from his hands. “Ask away.”

“What was getting the arcanums like for you?” He was curious. After all, Aaravos was the only person who had ever experienced it.

He closed his eyes. “It was like I reached a new level of enlightenment every time. The primal sources interact with each other, just as the arcanums do in your body. Think about it. The sky exists to protect the earth, which is bountiful due to the ocean’s constant churning. The ocean moves because of the moon, which shines because of the sun, which is a star.” It was like fireworks going off in Callum’s head. 

“Everything is… connected.” It made sense to him, but not the way it made sense to Aaravos. What he was saying was like explaining an arcanum: it can’t fully be done. It’s something one just knows.

“Even more than you could ever know.”

Perhaps refusing Aaravos’s offer had been a mistake.

…

“Ez… are you sure?” Callum’s brother stood before him, without his crown and royal garb.

“Absolutely. I’m too stressed to be a king right now. Opeli will do a better job, I know it.” Ezran wanted to come with them.

Truly, it hadn’t been fair that Ezran never got a chance to truly see Xadia, but it didn’t feel right for him to make an abrupt decision like this.

“Besides, we won’t be gone for that long. Like, probably a year. Katolis can manage without me for that long.”

“The real question is,” Rayla smirked. “Will you be able to go back to roughin’ it in the wilds? No bed, no servants… No jelly tarts.” Callum held back laughter as Ezran smoldered.

“It’s… A sacrifice I’m willing to make.” Wow. Ez really had grown up. “You’ll be able to travel faster with me around, anyway.” Callum tilted his head to the side as Ezran put two fingers in his mouth and whistled.

There was a rustling sound coming from the adjacent bushes, and three fully-grown banthers emerged. 

Callum’s heart skipped a beat as he got ready to defend himself, but he realised there was no need. These were Ezran’s banthers.

They each chose a beast and mounted. Not long after they began moving, Ezran giggled ceaselessly. “Rayla, your banther thinks you’re too heavy.” The two brothers broke out into laughter. It had been a while since the three of them were together like this. It was nice.


	46. Bonus Chapter: Flashback, Pt. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaravos continues to recall the past.

**Year 4**  
The plan wasn’t exactly going well. Aaravos was never a sentimental person, but he’d never spent an extended amount of time with someone, either.

From the moment Elarion moved from infancy, she’d insisted on calling him ‘Dad.’ Once again, Aaravos wasn’t incredibly sentimental, but… Who could resist the whims of their child? Aaravos facepalmed at the realisation that he’d just acknowledged Elarion as his own.

She had large hazel eyes which soon became covered by her brown hair. Luckily, Aaravos was an elf of many talents: hairdressing was one of them. 

As much as he prided himself in his skills, all that needed to be done was to brush her lengthening hair to the side, and behind her ears. For some reason, the lobes of her ears hung away from her cheek. Was it normal for humans? Aaravos was a multiple-century old cesspool of knowledge, and he had no clue.

What was arguably most entertaining was her enthrallment with his body. Aaravos always knew he was beautiful, but his daughter had been the only one interested in showing her awe.

It felt… Warm.

 **Year 5**  
Elarion was finally capable of complex thought and speech: with those skills, luckily, came an interest in magic.

The more complex nuances of magic were lost on the child, however, and they were stuck with the very basics.

Along with the ability to speak came a cacophony of questions. They were endless, and some were irrelevant. She wanted to know more about him. Should he have indulged her? Probably not. If he hadn’t gotten so attached, she may have lived a full life.

 **Year 6**  
Elarion was smart. Incredibly so, in fact. She picked up on magic like it was second nature, and gave fervent attention to his lectures.

On the other hand, she was extraordinarily attached to Aaravos. She was always clinging to his arms, when she could, and when they were unavailable, she settled for his legs.

One day, Aaravos was fed up with all the extra weight he had to carry, and scolded Elarion for the first time.

To this day, he could not explain his reaction to Elarion’s tears. When she cried, his body and voice moved independently from his mind, and he comforted the child. Unfortunately, with the comfort Elarion received came the notion that her actions were okay, and Aaravos was left to carry his daughter along wherever he went.

 **Year 10**  
Elarion was mostly independent now, and Aaravos couldn’t help but feel proud. A little sad, but proud. She’d learned enough about magic to perform sky magic, which she did using one of Aaravos’s primal stones. He had two; one of the sky, and one of the stars. Star magic was a little much for a child, while sky magic was perfect.

The inevitable questions came soon after she’d received the stone. ‘Why don’t you need a stone while I do?’ He answered truthfully.

‘Why am I a human if you’re an elf?’ Because Aaravos wasn’t truly her father.

With this realisation, Elarion fled from Aaravos for the first time. He looked for hours, and finally found her in a field of adoraburrs.

She was hungry, but still showed anger at Aaravos. He’d raised her and fed her, and yet she turned her anger upon him?

As much as Aaravos wanted to return the girl’s rage, he couldn’t. He may not have been Elarion’s birthfather, but he was her father nonetheless. 

**Year 12**  
At this point, Elarion was a master of sky magic. Because she had the primal stone, she was capable of casting large spells with relative ease. That had been a good thing, all until they fought.

Elarion wanted to see the world, to experience other people. Aaravos knew what would follow, and refused her. Of course, if he’d explained the circumstances, she wouldn’t have left him. She would have understood. It was one of Aaravos’s biggest regrets.

She caught him off guard with a well-placed fulminis and fled once more. The difference this time was that she was big and strong enough to make it far away from the house. What was worse, she was definitely _not_ strong enough to defend herself from bloodthirsty elves.

He’d never been more frightened in his life. Not when he’d almost died connecting to the ocean arcanum. Not when he was struck by lightening. Not even when he’d realised the cruel reality of his existence. No, the fear for his daughter’s life far surpassed anything he could ever feel. Or so he thought.

He found her days later, trying to survive against a mob of angry moonshadow elves. They threw everything they had at a tiny, frail human child. Needless to say, none of them survived his rage.

 **Year 14**  
Finally, she was ready for her first real pilgrimage. She’d been awakened to the cruel reality of the world at such a young age, and she was all the stronger for it.

What was most surprising, however, was that she didn’t come out of it with a hate for elves. In fact, when Aaravos brought up the idea of a pilgrimage, she was immediately on board.

It wouldn’t be like it was years ago. She was much more mature now, and could fend for herself.

She prepared for a week before leaving.

He never expected to feel his heart tugging in so many directions at once.

 **Year 18**  
Elarion was finally to return home to him. She’d sent him a message using moon magic: it appeared that she had learned from her masters well.

He had an inexplicable time dealing with her time away. He had less to do, and worry about. It left a gaping hole in him. Worse of all was the worry. She’d tried her best to contact him regularly, but it would never be enough. 

With four years away from him, Aaravos was apprehensive as to how different she would be. Of course, that was the whole point of a pilgrimage, but he just hoped that the daughter he’d learned to love was still the same person she was when she’d left.

Aaravos had taken special care to not move from the spot they’d been in when she left. When she came marching down the worn path, reminiscing about her childhood in those woods, Aaravos was the one in the awe of her beauty. How much of a strong, beautiful woman she’d become.

“Dad.” She greeted him with a hug.

“Welcome home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I was writing this, I actually had a thought: this would be better if I posted it on Father's Day. Unfortunately, it's a ways away still, and I didn't want to stunt the progression of this background story for that long. So, maybe pretend it's an early father's day chapter?  
> Thanks for reading!


	47. Trauma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bait was left at home.
> 
> Callum experiences some aftereffects of the incident in Katolis.

“So… Why exactly did you leave Bait at home?”

Ezran felt bad about it, but he had a definite reason. “I know things might get dangerous… I don’t want anyone to get hurt because they’re looking after him.” Bait, for the most part, was not a burden. He was also not exactly battle-ready, however. Ezran looked back on one of the first days they were traveling. Rayla had risked her life to save bait from that giant fishy-monster. It would have been bad if anything serious happened.

Besides, Bait had all the attendants in the castle looking over him. He’d be fine while Ezran was gone.

[~-~]

“I’m sure Ezran didn’t mean to leave you here.” Soren leaned over and picked up the glowtoad. Bait made a noise that Soren couldn’t understand.

Soren was commanded by Opeli to catch up with the king and continue to guard him. He didn’t think it would be incredibly difficult: he’d just need to follow the banther tracks.

He decided to bring Bait along with him. After all, Ezran couldn’t possibly have left him at the castle alone. He was going to be so excited when he saw that Soren brought Bait.

[~-~]

“Where’s Bait?! The king specifically asked me to look after him!” Corvus had looked everywhere. Under pillows, under beds, in the chef’s pantry… Everywhere!

How was he going to explain that he lost the king’s best friend? He pictured it in his mind.

‘Corvus, how could you?’ It didn’t help that the king was still a boy. On top of disappointing his sense of duty, he felt the pang of guilt, knowing that he’d failed to protect a kid’s pet.

No, he would not give up. Corvus would shake down the entire kingdom if he had to. He would find this missing glowtoad!

[~-~]

The dumb lump is carrying Bait somewhere. It was far from the food palace, that much was for sure. Bait croaked a questioning croak, but only received a confused look. He already missed his human. Ezran was the only one who understood him. Unfortunately.

What was worse, the dumb lump was running; there was no regard for how often Bait was squished against the lumps’s armor, or how his stinky, salty fluids leaked on Bait. Bait was usually fine with slurping up any liquids, but this particular one was putrid.

Bait wriggled from the lump’s grasp and hopped away. Unfortunately, Bait’s legs could only take him so far, and the lump grabbed him again. At least this time it was more comfortable. He was held in front of his carrier’s body this time.

The rushing air, the pulsing of the lump’s heart through his armor: it felt… Just as awful as everything else. It made Bait grumpy. How was he supposed to slurp up his own slobber if the rushing air kept drying it before he got the chance? It was such a killjoy.

In fact, the only things that didn’t make Bait grumpy were jelly tarts, and belly rubs. Well, Ezran too, but to a slightly lesser degree. It was impressive for a person to make it so far up on Bait’s list of favorites. The only other two who had made this accomplishment were the kid’s parents.

Bait wondered when he’d see them again. It’d been a while.

[~-~]

They were on their way to the Storm Spire; Ezran had insisted above all that they visit Zym. Callum couldn’t disagree with the idea: he kind of wanted to see Zym as well.

However, they needed to make a pitstop first. After all, all they’d left Rayla’s parents was a note before they left. They should stop in and let them know everything was okay. It would only be a couple days to get there, considering they had mounts now.

They reached the new breach, and crossed into Xadia as the sun set. Ezran let the banthers return home. 

“So, who’s doing what?” They needed to set up camp.

“You guys get dinner while I start a fire.” Did… Did Ezran know how to start a fire?

He made a ring of rocks and placed firewood inside. Then, he placed a thin, straight stick on top of one of the logs. Then, he started spinning it in between his hands.

The stick broke long before he would have ever made fire. “I’ll get it, Ez. Why don’t you get the sleeping bags?” Ezran pouted his lip a little bit, but then perked up at the realisation that ‘I’ll get it’ meant magic.

Callum approached the firewood and drew the rune. “Ignis.” The flame sparked in his hand, and his surroundings faded around him. A painfully familiar scent met his nose and the flame in his hand began to rotate, as the sounds of screams echoed through his ears. The flame calmed, and inside he saw a charred corpse staring back at him. ‘Help… Me…’ The corpse lifted its hand toward Callum before it was reduced to dust, flowing away with the wind.

“Callum.” The flames licked the air, reaching, searching for another victim to engulf, to destroy. “Callum.” They roared violently into the night sky, feeding from the air just as Callum had allowed. He did this, he -- “Callum!” 

His eyes shot back up from the flame as he realised two pairs of arms were wrapped snugly around him. The flame still resided in his hand, but it looked less sinister. It was under his control. It would do what he wanted.

Callum pointed his hand toward the firewood and released the spell from his hand. The wood was set ablaze, and he turned his attention back toward his companions. “Sorry, guys.”

“Don’t be sorry, Cal. It’s not your fault.” He returned their awkward hug. 

He was afraid of his magic: afraid of what he would do if out of control.

No. He would remain in control, no matter what.

He couldn't afford to hurt anyone else.

…

The fire was warm: how easily one could cross the line between warmth and heat. It left a pit in Callum’s stomach even now.

With the warmth of the fire came the lure of sleep, however, and Callum was soon caught in it.

…

Callum found himself in the white room once again. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Aaravos really had the worst timing for this kind of thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit to my dad: He suggested the Bait POV and the group going to see Zym. He reads this story too, so... Hi Dad!
> 
> I've never really experienced any real trauma firsthand, so I'm not sure if I'm writing it well. I'm open to any pointers you may have for me on that front.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	48. Bonus Chapter: Flashback; Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final part of Aaravos's flashback

**Year 21**  
Elarion had accepted the teachings of four teachers. Each one allowed her to use a primal stone, though only three had allowed her to keep it. Fortunately, theft is one of the many skills in Elarion’s repertoire. 

Finally Aaravos taught her of star magic. It was the most difficult to grasp, and thus took the longest to learn. After three years, she’d mastered it.

Finally, Aaravos was no longer the only archmage. He was beyond proud: the baby girl he’d raised was his only rival.

 **Year 24**  
He’d all but forgotten his plans to teach Elarion dark magic. At this point, he couldn’t He loved her too much. It was the first time he’d faced a truly difficult decision. His curiosity had always been his strongest trait; it made him the elf he was. He just had to learn more about it. There had to be a way.

Alas, he lived a peaceful life with his daughter, for the time being. He locked the thought away, saving the key for a more opportune time.

 **Year 30**  
A long time had passed since Elarion first became an archmage. She and Aaravos had traveled together this time: he would propose new perspectives to the lessons she’d learned on her previous pilgrimage.

Aaravos’s only ambition, for the longest time, was the continuous pursuit of knowledge. When he adopted Elarion, even that went on the back-burner. That’s why, when Elarion decided her own purpose, Aaravos knew immediately that he would follow.

In her time journeying, she’d seen many things, many of which she could never have been prepared for. There was continuous suffering everywhere she went, and the greatest source was her own race. Humans suffered without magic: they either starved, or lived well enough to be considered for elven hunting. There were no major cities in which humans could seek refuge.

Elarion would change all of that.

 **Year 32**  
Aaravos saw in his daughter’s eyes that her resolve was unchanged. They used Earth magic to erect large walls, and simplistic buildings. They brewed storms to weave and change the land until it became fertile. They molded lakes, and rivers for sustenance: surrounded themselves with mountains for protection. They gave this city of humans the best chance to thrive that they could.

Now, it just needed some citizens.

 **Year 35**  
The city of Elarion was bustling: Aaravos and his daughter had gone their separate ways to round up straggling humans who could benefit from living in their city.

While Elarion didn’t want to be the city’s namesake, Aaravos simply called it such until it stuck.

It was her masterpiece. Her legacy. She’d provided safety for her race when no one else would, or could.

It was just too bad that Aaravos had to mess it up.

 **Year 40**  
By now, Ziard was a master of dark magic. He wasn’t as powerful as an archmage, but his power still astonished Aaravos. 

Years prior, one of the first human slaves Aaravos freed from elven clutches made a simple request of him. He wanted to learn magic, so that he could protect humanity alongside his hero.

It was then that the thoughts he’d long since locked away came bursting through his mental dam. His mouth turned into a smile before he could forsee the consequences of his actions.

“Humans cannot learn primal magic without a primal stone.” The young man looked up at him, desperate to not feel so helpless. “But, there is something.”

 **Year 45**  
Aaravos had been much too conceited to see the trouble brewing. He’d crafted Ziard a staff to help channel dark magic: he’d learned a great deal by teaching Ziard. Alas, Ziard spread dark magic to other humans. Humans who were hungry for more than they were given: dying for revenge against those who had transgressed against them.

Elarion caught wind of this and ceased the teaching of dark magic immediately. She could see what Aaravos would not. She foresaw the consequences of her father’s mistakes.

Aaravos was satisfied with the knowledge: fat and stupid like a pig who’d been given a full meal. He was too caught up in his learnings to think of anything else. Everything else faded for just long enough. He left Elarion when it was at its most sensitive; he still thought to himself, if he’d just been there, he could have stopped the massacre.

It hadn’t been his fault though, not really. The dragons saw something beautiful that wasn’t theirs to take, but stole it away anyway. By the time Aaravos returned to Elarion, he found it in ashes. 

He used a moon spell to see what happened to his daughter--and her legacy.

He saw Ziard’s demise.

He saw an army of dragons storming the city, completely apathetic towards the lives they were preparing to take.

He saw his daughter bear all six primal stones. For just a moment, she turned away from the oncoming hoards of dragons. “Dad, if you’re seeing this… I’m sorry.” Her long hair flowed behind her even without the wind: the collective power of all the primal stones emanated from her. “I love you, no matter what.” A glint showed in her right eye: the tear rolled down her cheek before it met her hand, which swiped it away.

Elarion’s feet left the ground as she prepared a spell which would end her life. She protected her hopes and dreams to the very end.

Aarvos shed his very first tears that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if this is as sad to read as it is to write, lol.
> 
> I hope this whole section gave a little bit of insight to Aaravos's character.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	49. Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum and Rayla have their respective dreams.

If it weren’t for Aaravos’s spell, Callum surely would have been having frequent nightmares. The gloom of Viren’s death still hung over him like a curse: he felt it each and every time he prepared to drew a rune. Aaravos seemed to be disappointed by this: Callum couldn’t blame him, either. He was disappointed in himself, too. Still, the only way to get over this obstacle was to move forward, which Callum was quite ready to do.

They’d been at the spire for almost a week now, and it was nearly time to leave; Callum could tell that his brother didn’t want to leave Zym, though. The dragon had grown and changed since they’d last seen him, and they wanted time to catch up.

Callum was anxious to continue on their journey. He loved the storm spire, he loved Zym and Zubeia, and it was good to see his Sky Magic teacher, but… The point of his journey was to grow and learn. He wanted to go see Xadia, to learn more magic. If he was going to go down this path, he would need to master the arcanums as soon as possible. He would need to learn his strength, so that this would not happen again.

Callum slept with a plan that night: Aaravos had been kind enough to offer his council. Callum decided that it wouldn’t be a terrible idea to accept help from an archmage. Perhaps there was some insight he could provide to make Callum’s journey easier.

…

Callum opened his eyes to the white room. Aaravos was sitting there waiting for him.

“I’ve decided to take you up on your offer.”

“So, you’ll accept my teachings?”

“Yes.”

“That is a wise choice. Not only am I the only one who has achieved what you are trying to do, but I am also the only adequate teacher from whom you can learn star magic.”

Callum tilted his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

Aaravos shook his head. “Nevermind that, for now. You should save learning star magic for last. It’s the hardest of the primals to understand.”

“So what should I do next?” Aaravos was never super straightforward. It was a little annoying, but beggars can’t be choosers. 

“Actually, your next step will be the most dangerous. Right now, your arcanums aren’t interacting with each other peacefully. They’re imbalanced, and will cause you grief if you let them sit any longer.”

Callum knew what Aaravos was talking about. His moon arcanum was still a little weird. “So how do I fix it?”

“Think about the way the primal sources interact with each other. I said something like this before, but they’re all connected somehow. They’re interwoven in ways you don’t expect, and in ways I couldn’t hope to explain. Your moon arcanum’s condition is unique, but not unsalvageable. In fact, you’ve already accomplished the first step. The moon moved in tandem with two other primals: the sun, and the ocean. The moon shines due to the sun, and with the nature of your sun arcanum, there’s only one thing you have left to do.”

Aarvos yawns, then continues. “Do you know why the ocean has a low tide and a high tide?”

Callum shakes his head no. It wasn’t anything he’d ever really put thought into.

“The moon is big. So big, in fact, that is pushes against the Earth, and forces the ocean to rise. Upon that same coin, the world’s oceans push back on the moon, and return to their natural state. Do you understand?”

Callum does understand. The sun supplies the moon with light, which it morphs into its own, while the ocean keeps the moon in check, and everything balances out.

“Good. Your next step will be to connect with the ocean arcanum.”

“What’s so dangerous about that?”

Aaravos sighed. “The ocean primal is…” He shivered. “Not an easy one to accept into yourself. Tidebound elves have a high mortality rate at birth. That’s because of the danger involved in connecting with the ocean.”

Callum was taken aback. Aaravos just… shivered. Thinking about an experience he went through. The same experience Callum was about to go through. This didn't bode well.

Still, it couldn’t be that bad, right? He’d connected to the other arcanums just fine, this one couldn’t be too difficult, could it?

[~-~]

Rayla slept silently next to Callum. They were meant to leave the next day, and she couldn’t wait to be back on the road once more. It was her element.

Her sleep, however, was not a dreamless one.

She opened her eyes and found herself in the silvergrove. It was dusk, and the town was quiet. This was unusual: a good many moonshadow elves opted to sleep during the day, as opposed to sleeping at night: granted, the moon was beautiful, and was much easier to admire than the sun.

She began to walk around, still wary of the silence. Typically, she would be hearing the bustle of voices by now. The townsfolk walked around her, somehow not reacting to her defensive stance. She straightened up, and tried to flag down the nearest person.

She ran up to them, trying to get a look at their face, only to realise that there wasn’t one present.

Oh, no. Not this again. What had she done? Frantically, she ran around, searching and pleading to herself that there would be someone left: someone who hadn’t ghosted her.

She ran up the stairs to see Runaan and Ethari. She flung the door open. Luckily, there were two additional elves present. Her parents were visiting.

The elves reacted to the door opening, and turned their heads toward Rayla. Their faces were blank. All blank. They’d abandoned her, yet again.

She rushed back down the stairs, crying desperate tears. She had to find Callum. He was the one person who would never abandon her. He would be there for her, forever and always. She had a ring to prove it.

She ran to their house: the one they’d stayed in during their time in the silvergrove. “Callum!”

She burst through the door, her tears streaming freely now. He stood with his back to her. She quickly ran to him, and wrapped her arms around his neck, sobbing into his back. “Callum, it’s horrible… They’ve… They’ve ghosted me.”

Callum’s hand went up to hers and he turned around.

Rayla was met with a faceless Callum.

Like a mirror shattering, everything around Rayla dropped from view, and a part of her inside died. Then, she opened her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Both of their dreams take place at the same place, just in case that wasn't clear.


	50. Solution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum asks Aaravos for a solution to he and Rayla's problem.

Rayla was fully aware that it was a dream. That didn’t mean it hurt less, though. Callum wasn’t there for her: usually, whenever either of them had a nightmare, the other would show up and resolve the issue.

Dreamsharing was a byproduct of their soulbond: they’d given each other pieces of their souls subconsciously, and ever since, they’d shared a powerful bond. It was a greater force than love itself: only death could sever it, and yet… they hadn’t shared dreams for a while. It must have been due to Aaravos.

Callum told Rayla about Aaravos, and she didn’t like it. Supposedly, that butterfly had been Aaravos’s avatar, which he gave up in order to enter Callum’s dreams.

Someone who’d sacrifice their ability to interact with the outside world definitely had ulterior motives.

It was dawn, and Callum was just rising. Rayla had tried her best to rub the red from her eyes, but of course it wouldn’t happen that way.

Callum sat up, and rubbed his eyes. “G’morning, Ray.”

“Morning.” She didn’t want to take her feelings out on Callum. She knew full well that it wasn’t his fault, but she couldn’t help it. Something like what happened last night was… enough to change someone.

“Are you alright?”

“Just a nightmare.”

“O...Oh.” He seemed to realise the same thing. “Rayla, I’m--”

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.” Rayla felt a little sick. She was acting so immature, and was bound to hurt his feelings sooner or later. She needed time to think.

Rayla got up, and walked to the door. “Rayla.”

Callum got up to follow her, but she stopped him. “I just… need some time. Please.” She left.

[~-~]

Callum sat there. He never even thought about the consequences of having Aaravos in his dreams. He could only imagine how awful her nightmare must have been. He could have… no, should have been there. If working to be powerful came at the cost of subjecting his loved ones to something that awful, then he didn’t want to.

Callum wanted to go comfort Rayla, to restore her trust in him. For now though, all he could do was wait.

…

Rayla came back an hour later, looking better. “I’m sorry I stormed out like that, I--”

Callum wrapped her in a hug; he couldn’t believe that she was apologizing. “No, I’m sorry. I should have been there.” They stayed in this embrace for awhile, before Callum begrudgingly broke it. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She nodded, and took a seat on their bed. Callum followed, ready to hear exactly what she wanted to say.

Rayla relayed the events of her nightmare. She’d been ghosted again. Of course. There’s not much else that can phase her like that.

What came next was heart wrenching, even for Callum. She told him that he had been one of the people to leave her.

It wasn’t the kind of nightmare that wakes you up in a cold sweat, screaming. It was the kind that picked at your most sensitive spot: pecked at it like a crow, desperate for carrion. It peeled back the tender insides and stole your security. It consumed your trust, and left your remaining pieces to rot.

He couldn’t help but draw her near once more. “You know I would never leave you. Never. I would sooner die.”

“I know.” Their rings touched as they held their hands tightly together. “I won’t leave you, either.”

Their hug lasted until there was a knock on the door. “Guys? Are we going, or…?” Ezran opened the door, saw them together, and immediately backed out. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt anything, I’m just gonna go…”

The two of them stood from their bed, red in the face. Callum moved to the door and opened it back up. “Ez, you’re fine. You didn’t… We weren’t…”

Rayla decided to pick up his slack. “We’ve got a busy day ahead of us. Let’s go say our goodbyes and get out of here.”

It was good to see her spirits back up, even if just to cover for Callum’s awful explanation.

…

Goodbyes had been easier this time. It felt less final; after everything they’d been through, leaving the spire for a little while didn’t seem so monumental anymore.

Callum slept next to Rayla. Tonight, he would fix the problem. He wasn’t sure how, but Rayla needed him. He would figure something out.

He closed his eyes, and let sleep take him.

…

“Is there some other way for me to talk to you?” He was back in the white room again.

Aaravos frowned. “What has happened?”

“Every night you bring me here, I can’t dreamshare with Rayla. It’s hurting her.”

The elf cupped his hand to his chin. “Well, I could try to breach into your subconscious… However, once this is done, it cannot be easily undone. If I enter your head, we will be connected permanently.”

Callum didn’t like the sound of that. He was already suspicious of Aaravos. Letting him inside his mind didn’t seem like the best course of action. However, it didn’t seem like Aaravos would lie to him. “If you do this, you won’t be able to… control me or anything like that, right?”

The elf chuckled. “Mind control is a difficult thing to accomplish. With such a simple spell such as this, I can’t hope to even influence your body.”

That checks out pretty well. Still, he needed more time to think. This wasn’t the kind of decision one should make in the spur of the moment. “Can you give me a couple days to think?”

“I’m afraid that I can’t return you to your own dreams without undoing this spell. If I do that, I won’t be able to communicate with you at all.”

“Is there any other way?”

“I’ve thought of this before. There is no other path which I can think of.”

This was troublesome. As much as he hated the idea of letting a stranger into his head, he needed Aaravos, and also needed to be able to dreamshare with Rayla. It didn’t seem like Callum had much of a choice. He sighed.

“Okay. Do it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the relatively infrequent updates. Writer's block is a serious pain in the neck sometimes, but now I've come back with a lot of inspiration! Thanks for reading!


	51. Tidebound Village

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group arrives at the Tidebound Village

Rayla was worried. It wasn’t her intention to pressure Callum into a rash decision, but… It did feel nice that he cared so much about making sure she was comfortable.

Truly, Aaravos could have probably entered his mind without his consent. While it didn’t make Rayla feel any better, it meant that his intentions weren’t to harm Callum. That much set her at ease, if only a little bit.

They were heading northeast now, toward a tidebound settlement. Rayla had never met a tidebound elf, though she’d heard stories. Some of them had tails like a fish, while others wore legs: similar to the sky elves.

She didn’t like following Aarvos’s advice, but he was an archmage, so it made sense Callum would want to learn from him. 

Worst of all, Rayla couldn’t stop thinking about Zubeia’s reaction to Callum bringing Aaravos up in conversation. She didn’t trust him, and could only hope that Callum didn’t, either.

[~-~]

Having someone else in your head was weird: kind of like having a roommate. For the most part, Aaravos kept to himself, taking in the sights vicariously through Callum. It wasn’t unpleasant per se, but he felt bare, as if Aarvos was digging for something. The elf was probably just curious: Callum would be too, if he were in a similar situation.

Aaravos wasn’t in his head all the time, though. It appeared that he could enter in order to say his piece, and leave whenever. This much was a relief: there would be quite a few times when having a stranger with you would be incredibly awkward.

Callum held his hand out to his brother, who graciously took it; he helped Ezran up the incline. There was something nice about this arrangement, though. Aaravos was a wellspring of knowledge. Speaking to the elf was like simultaneously talking to every professor at Katolis’s college. And, he simply needed to think about talking to him: there was no need to speak out loud.

He did just that. Why are they going to this particular village? Aarvos didn’t hesitate to reply. _If this village hasn’t changed too much, they should be neutral. Tidebound elves despise humans and other elves equally, which means your chances of learning from them are higher._ That didn’t sound very optimistic. Were tidebound elves really that bad? _Indeed, they are. They worship the depths of the oceans, and have little tolerance for anything else._ Great.

Callum stepped up the last step, and found himself at the precipice of the hill they were climbing. Below, there laid a group of cottages. _This is it._

“Looks like this is it, guys.” Callum relayed to his friends. He noticed Rayla gulping beside him, and reached for her shoulder. “Are you alright? I know you don’t like the water.”

“I’ll be alright. Let’s just go get this over with.” With that, Rayla took off toward the village before him. 

Callum looked at Ezran, who looked awed at the ocean. “This is pretty awesome.”

“Yeah, it is.” Ezran looked a little confused as they began to follow Rayla.

“What’s wrong?”

“I thought I’d be able to hear the fish here, but… I can’t.”

“We’re probably just too far from the shore.”

“Yeah, probably.”

…

“You are not welcome here. Leave.” What? Aaravos said they would accept Callum and his friends, didn’t he? _I said that they might. You may have to leave and find another village to teach you._

“Why?” Rayla spoke up.

“I can sense a different arcanum within each of you. There is not a single one that is of the ocean. You children are blasphemous, and unwelcome. Leave.”

Callum had so many questions. The tidebound elf could sense their arcanums? He said that everyone in the group had one, but Ezran…? _He is acutely connected to the earth._ What?! Suddenly, that made sense. Ezran’s connection with animals… that must be it! Ezran is connected to the Earth Arcanum! But why hasn't he said anything? _It’s much like your current moon arcanum. It’s incomplete, and unstable. It's likely that he doesn't know, himself. We’ll talk more about this later._

Ezran sounded confused as well. “What do you mean?”

The tidebound elf grunted. “And you are ignorant, as well.” He turned his back to the group, toward the village. “You are allowed to remain here for one day. Get enough rest to leave, then do so immediately.”

The elf walked back to the village. “Nice guy.” Rayla piped up.

The group quickly followed the elf, who seemed intent on ignoring them until they arrived at their temporary housing. All things considered, they were being extremely hospitable.

The structures in this village were different from others that Callum had seen in other elven settlements. They were simple, and mostly constructed with driftwood. _Tidebound elves will only build with materials from the ocean. They consider each piece of wood a gift from the ocean._ Interesting.

Even though their room was small and made from scraps, it was sturdy enough to be comfortable.

“Well, this is kinda nice.” Ezran seemed to like it. 

Callum looked over at Rayla. She definitely did not seem to like it. “Ray?”

She turned and smiled at him. “It’s alright. It’s just awfully close to the water for my taste.”

Callum grabbed her hand. “Do you want to go somewhere else?”

“Nah. This’ll be a cakewalk!” If she says so.

…

Callum had a nagging feeling. It was later on in the night, and they’d had a chance to properly explore the town. Of course, they’d gotten quite a few weird looks, but other than that it was fine. The town’s buildings circled around a single, larger building on the seashore. This building was actually built in the water: this was because half of the village lived underwater.

They would hold meetings in this building, and while Callum knew he wasn’t welcome, he had to do something. There was a storm coming. A big one. The biggest storm he’d ever seen, or heard of for that matter. The textbooks called such a storm a ‘hurricane.’ This small village had no hope of surviving it.

Callum burst through the doors to the central building, and met with a hundred angry faces. “What are you doing here, human? This does not concern you.”

“You have to listen to me! You all need to leave this place! There’s a storm coming. You’ll be destroyed!” Callum was passionate when it mattered, but it would seem that passion would not be the solution to this issue.

“We will not decide whether the ocean grants us sanctuary or demise. Whatever happens, we are all staying here. You may leave, if you wish.”

Callum was astonished. They were fine with dying? For nothing? _I told you this wouldn’t work._ Callum shook away Aaravos’s words. There had to be something. Something he could say to save them. _There is not. You must leave them to their choice._ No. “But…!”

The leader of the group raised his staff. “Leave this meeting at once, child!”

Callum swallowed his pride and turned back to leave. _I know. It’s not your fault, Callum. What can you do?_ What could he do?

Rayla and Ezran were waiting for him outside. “Well?” Ezran was especially worried. 

“They won’t leave. They just want to stay here and die.”

“That’s… Ridiculous!” Rayla was fuming now. “Why would they just give their lives like that… For nothing?”

“They think it’s the ocean’s will for them to die.”

“Fine.” Rayla wasn’t calm, but she was reasonable. “We need to get out of here.” The sky was darkening: they didn’t have very long.

“No, what?” Ezran wasn’t having it. “How could we just leave them? It’s… It’s not right!”

Callum offered his hand to Ezran’s shoulder. “If we stay here, we’ll all get hurt, or worse. Think of Katolis, Ez. Everyone back home needs you.”

Ezran shed tears. Callum’s brother was expressing what Callum felt. Aaravos said that it wasn’t his fault, but… Couldn’t he do something? They began their trek away.

…

They’d found a cave which would protect them from the night’s especially cruel elements. Callum couldn’t take his mind off of it. The waves were now crashing against the shore, sending chilly frills of mist into the air. He could hear it all. He was a damn sky mage, wasn’t he? He knew spells which could quell the rage of this storm, but… He’d walked away. Was it out of fear? Of course it was. He’d never used the spell before, and this particular storm… It was probably the largest that he’d ever heard of. It was large even by a hurricane’s standards.

Those people were going to die. By his inaction, he was sentencing them to death. _Don’t, young prince. Don’t go down that hole._ How could he not, though? It was true. _They sentenced themselves to death._ But everyone deserved help, even if they didn't want it. Even if they refused it, and hated him for giving it, they deserved his help.

Callum stood. He could no longer sit by. “Callum?” Rayla grabbed his arm. He grabbed her back, and pulled her to his height. 

“I love you, Rayla.”

“Cal, we’ll be fine in here.”

He looked down. “I know.”

He glanced up and caught her eyes widening. Quickly, he pulled away. “Callum.”

He looked to his brother. “Ezran, I love you too. You’re a great king, and a great brother. I couldn’t have asked for a better family.” He ruffled the kid’s hair.

“Callum, no.” Rayla whined. “Don’t do this. You can’t… You can’t handle that! You’ll die!”

“No. I promise, I’ll come back.”

Ezran was on his feet now, too. He offered his pinkie. Unfortunately, Callum no longer had the equipment to fulfill a pinkie promise, so he offered his ring finger instead. “I promise.”

Rayla reached for him, unconvinced. “Don’t leave me, Cal!”

“I’m sorry, Ray. I need to do this.” He ran out of the cave. **“Manus, Pluma, Volantus!”**


	52. Ocean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum faces the storm.

_You are so much like her, it’s uncanny._ What? _Sorry. Just reminiscing. You are much like someone I used to know. She cared much for the people of this world._ Callum chuckled. It was flattering to hear that from an archmage. _Yes, you share her stubbornness, as well. This… this is madness. You would at least need to be ascended to accomplish what you are trying to do._ Callum had questions, but this was not the time to ask them. 

He refocused on the scene before him. He could feel it. The storm was colossal. The power flowing through him, even at this distance, was immense. He felt that he could take on the world… No. Stop with those thoughts. Callum would need to control himself. This power would be used only to save those people. Nothing more.

Callum landed on the outskirts of the town, and moved toward the shore. _I can feel your terror, Callum. It’s not to late to turn back. I do not wish to see you die here._ Callum won’t die. He made a promise, after all.

His heart ached with Rayla’s. He didn’t want to be here: the wind and sea were cold, so different from the warmth he felt when with his fiance.

It would be fine, though. He was warm enough. His chest filled with said warmth as he stood there, soaking it all in. The rain pelted his face, and the wind threatened to pick him up off his feet. Still, he stood there. This spell was dangerous. If one casts a spell that requires more power than they can give, the spell would draw from the caster’s life.

The ground itself was being washed away: the ocean clashed with the earth ceaselessly. That’s it. Callum could feel it. He was ready.

He prepared his body for the toll this spell would take. Channeling this much power through a body as weak as his was never a good idea.

Lightening struck threateningly near him, but it didn’t phase him. The power was bursting at his seams: it was much like when he was angry. Electricity ran between his fingers, jolting back and forth, and causing his hair to stand on end.

He raised his hand, and then got to work. This spell was complex: an eight-layered rune, used only in legends. **“Vi Tempestatis Retro Caeli Marisque!!!”** The storm swirled and formed a break around Callum. Tornadoes formed around him, yet he held his ground. The wind could have cut him in half.

As he moved his hands, the storm followed suit: it curled around him like a serpent, before obeying his command, and flowing back out to the sea. The tornadoes sucked up the ocean’s water as they followed the rest of the storm. Soon enough, the entirety of the disaster was removed from the town, and Callum collapsed fully on his back. It was difficult to breath. Ah, dear prince. You are truly, truly a special one.

Unfortunately, Callum miscalculated. This was no ordinary storm: not only was it of the sky, but of the ocean as well. The ocean’s waves crashed against the shore, and the tide rose. Callum was unable to move, as the ocean dragged him into its depths.

_It was cold. There wasn’t a single speck of sunlight in the depths. Various creatures flowed with the ebbs of the ocean, circling around him. It was mesmerizing. He could almost hear them, calling to him. ‘Come join us.’ He felt the urge to do just that. To swim with them. Eat, breath, sleep with the fishes._

_He wanted to sink, deeper, deeper into the abyss below, to confide in the secrets of the deep; the cold, it was so, so comforting. It chilled him to his bones, tickling the very hairs on his skin._

_He could hear. The waters rasped around him unendingly, carrying the voice and wills of unknowable monstrosities. They sang to him, like a solemn lullaby; he closed his eyes, preparing for the eventual sleep to come._

_The somber melodies melted away his surroundings. Each note carried a feeling. Sorrow. Glee. Acceptance. That was it. Acceptance. He was powerless in the face of the ocean. Everything. The fish. The water. The ocean sands. Warm, cold. Comfort, pain. Light, dark. Black, white. Eyes, and teeth. Body, and mind. Existence, and nonexistence. The ocean held all the answers, all the secrets._

_The ocean was not chaotic: it was tranquil. It had a mind and will of its own. It brought life and death; it reflected light on the surface, yet in its depths not a bit of it could be found. The ocean was alive, and so was he._

_He opened his eyes, suddenly aware of the currents around him. They flowed gently, rising him back to the surface as he accepted the ocean’s gracious gift of breath._

_The light was unsightly, grotesque. It shimmered like a fallacy, unaware of the ocean’s deep truths._

_The water guided him to the shore: it was warm._

Callum opened his eyes, which were met with the sun. He tried to take a breath, but found his lungs already full. The ocean had gifted him life in exchange for his understanding. _Callum!_ The startouch elf rapped against the back of his mind, and he allowed Aaravos to enter.

Callum coughed, allowing the ocean’s life to leave his body, and once again let the sky enter his lungs.

“Callum!” Rayla rushed to his side, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

Ezran came soon after, panting after his long run. Callum held up his ring finger to his brother, who kindly returned his own pinkie. "I told you so."

_You never cease to impress me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the writing is a little chaotic. I wanted to do something neat for the ocean, so I tried something a little new here. I hope you liked it!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	53. The Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The events following Callum's connection with the ocean.

The small, pompy dragon had allowed them to enter the spire. Bait didn’t like Zym, but knew to show… Respect… to royalty.

The climb up the spire had been long, but the dumb lump didn’t seem tired at all. It was probably due to the spell the dragon used. It seemed like Bait was quickly running out of usefulness: even the baby dragon was casting spells!

Bait croaked. He didn’t like it. Not one bit.

[~-~]

Soren looked upon the majesty of the dragon queen once more. He’d seen her once, but that had been as she’d just woken up. Now, Zubeia was fully awake, and as intimidating as ever. Not that Soren would like to admit that he was intimidated.

“Good morning, your majesty.” He knelt. “I’m looking for King Ezran and his friends. Do you know where they are?”

The queen chuckled. “Stand, human. You need not kneel in my court, lest I desire it.” That last part was a little confusing… How was he supposed to know when to kneel? “As for the location of those kids… They left here about a week ago. They went northeast.” A week? How was Soren so slow?

Soren sighed. “Thank you. I’ll be on my way, then.”

The dragon held up a monolithic paw. “Just a moment.”

Soren turned back, giving his full attention. While he was never a fan of pleasantries, this particular queen could incinerate him without breaking a sweat. Did dragons sweat? If so, how did…

The queen interrupted him. “I would like to ask you about the human prince… Callum. Has he acted… a little off, recently?”

Soren thought about it. It was true, Callum was a little off. It happened after Viren fell: he started talking about weird dreams he was having. “After he was forced to… Kill someone, he started to have weird dreams.”

“Such as?”

He thought as deeply as his brain would allow. Callum had mentioned a name… “Aragon? No, that’s not it…”

“Aaravos.”

“Yeah, that’s it!”

The dragon queen narrowed her eyes. “I see.”

[~-~]

For the first time in a while, Callum was drawing. Ever since he’d lost fingers, he’d had to change the way he held his utensils. While it never really hindered him that much, it did sap a bit of his motivation.

That was not the case today, however. His experience with the ocean had been eye opening: he couldn’t not draw this.

He filled a page with darkness, and drew something that only he would see. The page was covered with the coal he’d used to draw, and hidden deep within the page, just as the ocean had been, was one of the creatures he’d felt.

He closed his sketchbook, satisfied. As he looked up from his book, though, he was met with a rather unsatisfied expression.

[~-~]

How could he draw at a time like this? He’d just almost died. No, that wasn’t it. He had most definitely died: Rayla could feel it. It was like a part of her was faded: bland. It disappeared once Callum resurfaced, but… She couldn’t bear the thought.

“Are you okay, Rayla?”

Was she? Should she even answer this question? Rayla couldn’t tell if she was being dramatic, or if she really should feel the way she does.

She decided that yes, she should. “No, Callum. You left me here, so you could go play hero.” She walked up to him, and yanked him to his feet. She beckoned for him to follow her deeper into the cave. “You died, alone, underwater, where I couldn’t have even mourned for you.”

“But, I--”

“But nothing!” She raised her fists up to her face, taking a ready stance. Callum registered what was going on, and sighed.

Despite obviously not wanting to, he took up his own stance.

“I _felt_ you die, Callum! I watched you disappear from my life, and I thought you’d never come back!” She moved first, throwing a punch with her right hand.

Callum dodged it, as he often did, and moved off to her right. Rayla saw this coming, and spun the opposite way, bringing her leg up, attempting to hook his head in her leg.

Rayla didn’t predict, however, that he’d duck this kick, and fell from her feet. She landed on a knee, and Callum offered her his hand. No. Not yet. They weren’t done yet. Rayla kicked her leg out, and swept Callum to the ground.

She got on top of him, in a position which he couldn’t dodge from. “You’re so selfish!” She pounded on his chest with her fists. “What was I gonna do? I couldn’t stop you, but you wouldn’t listen to me!” She didn’t want to hurt him. Not even a little. She just needed to get it all out. “I thought we were a team, Callum!” Her blows began to soften, and so did her words.

What had been angry yells turned to sobs in a matter of minutes. If she’d seen herself, she would have been disgusted, but… That didn’t matter. She needed this.

[~-~]

Ezran didn’t like the sounds coming from the deep end of the cave, but he didn’t want to interfere. He’d gotten his own lecture/yelling session, and didn’t care for another.

He didn’t know how to feel. While Callum was gone, Rayla clutched at her chest, and fell limp. She didn’t faint, but the strong, proud elf he knew was gone, and replaced with a doormat. Nothing he did stirred a reaction from her.

When she told him Callum had died, he didn’t believe her. In fact, he never did. In the five hours Callum had been in the ocean, Ezran knew he’d make it back. He’d pinkie promised. Well, it wasn’t really a pinkie promise, but it was a good substitute.

A little while later, the yelling stopped, but Ezran could tell that they weren’t done. He rolled on his side. They would need some time.

[~-~]

Aaravos’s plan had worked, for the most part. While it was true that going into that storm had been a terrible, terrible decision, it resulted in his connection with the ocean. The boy had defied the ocean, and it took him in. Aaravos had gone through a similar exchange, but it was supervised. It would have been extremely unlikely for him to have died in the ocean, but Callum… did. He died, and yet the ocean chose him to bear a piece of it within him.

Through all the hardship, his plan had worked. Callum’s moon arcanum was now full, and balanced together with the sun and ocean. Now, he would need to rush to complete the other two. Aaravos had learned much while he was traveling to become an archmage: one of the lessons he’d learned had been self taught. When multiple arcanums exist within a single body, they need to have balance with each other, and within themselves. If a single one tilts off its axis, it can put the others in disarray, and harm the body.

Aaravos needed Callum for his plans, but it was more than that, now. He’d been genuinely worried when Callum faced the storm. He supposed it was all the time he’d spent in the boy’s head. He couldn’t help but become attached.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was more of an intermissionary chapter. I'm gonna call the second season (Book?) of this story here, with (hopefully) another two to come! I'll probably take a couple days off from writing this story, because I have a lot of stuff planned, and I want to make sure I pace it properly. However, if anyone has an idea for a bonus chapter that they'd like to see, I'd be happy to write it out, within reason.
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter. Thanks for reading!


	54. Back At It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum and his friends continue in their travels!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Trading Life for Love is back! Sorry for the long wait... Somehow, a couple days turned into a couple weeks, and was about to turn into a couple months. But, now I'm back in the saddle again, so I hope you're ready for some content!
> 
> To kinda/sorta make up for it I've made this first chapter back extra long. Enjoy!

After recent events, Rayla had hoped to catch a break. However, trouble never seemed to stray too far from her and her friends. 

Earthblood elves weren’t secretive like the moonshadow, or bold like the sunfire, just somewhere in between. What they were, however, was stubborn. Rayla supposed that it made sense. Steadfast, just like the ground. As admirable as it was, it was incredibly annoying, as well. 

The scenery was beautiful. It was much like The Silvergrove: the structures coincided with the natural scaping of the area, as if the Earth shaped it herself. What was less beautiful, however, was their welcome.

She wasn’t sure if it was due to the humans accompanying her, or if they were simply intolerant of visitors, but they were quickly asked to leave. Again.

The Earthblood elf stood high above Callum’s head, and it was in no part due to the elf’s horns. “We do not have the space to house anyone else. Please leave.”

Rayla looked past the elf, and saw the town… it wasn’t exactly teeming with life. In fact, half of the housing was being used for animals. There was plenty of room.

The Earthblood in front of her seemed to sense her skepticism. “Fine. It’s true, we do have enough room for you. However, outsiders are not welcome here. Please, leave.”

Rayla felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Come on, Ray. We can find somewhere else to stay.”

Her eye twitched a little. Why did it have to be Earthbloods? They’d been to three other settlements, and none had allowed them to enter. She sighed, though, and turned to leave.

“If it makes you guys feel any better, I like walking in the forest!” Ah, Ezran. Always the optimist.

As they walked from the village, Rayla heard a voice calling to them. “Wait!” She turned, and saw a shorter elf, running to the group. They wore a green cloak, which hid their face from view. Rayla’s hands reflexively fell on her blades on her hip. The smaller elf raised their hands, as to show their peaceful intent. Then, they moved to their hood, and pulled it off.

Under the cloak was another Earthblood elf, this one with humbler horns. Her--At least, she looked like a her-- eyes fell past Rayla, and on Callum. “I can show you to shelter.” She swept her green hair from her eyes, revealing them to also be a bright green.

“Why do you want to help us?” Rayla was always the skeptical type. More importantly, she’d been dealing with Earthblood elves all day, and none of them had been the generous type.

As if it was obvious, the elf smiled gingerly at Rayla. It was the kind of smile you’d give to a small child, woefully ignorant of whatever was happening. Not Rayla, though. She’d gone through too much training to let herself be stabbed in the back unwittingly. The elf parted her smile to speak. “I simply want to help you.”

Yeah, that’s some serious bullcrap. No one is that kind. Well, Callum and Ezran were exceptions. “Uh huh.”

Callum seemed to trust her right away, however. Perhaps it was because he was looking for a teacher. After all, Rayla knew he wasn’t that naive. At least, not any more. No, there had to be something else there. He leaned to her ear and whispered, “Let’s just trust her for now. We can keep guard at night.”

Well, it was true that nothing else had yielded them fruit. Perhaps this particular elf would give them exactly what they needed?

…

A half hour later, and about a mile away, they arrived... at... a pile of rocks. Seriously? Is this little mound of rock the shelter she’d promised them?

Callum seemed to be thinking the same thing, but Ezran remained happy-go-lucky. “It’s nice!”

The elf chuckled to herself. “This is just the tip of the iceberg.” She kneeled on the ground, and found a patch of dirt, free of vegetation. She then drew a rune into the earth. Suddenly, the ground shook. “Or, I guess I should say, rock-berg.”

Rayla looked to the mound of rocks, which was quickly rising to the air. Below it sprouted a ginormous tree. When the rumbling ceased, there was a hollow tree, topped with the mound they’d seen earlier. “Wow.” The word escaped from Rayla’s mouth before she could catch it. The Earthblood elf giggled and walked to the tree. 

“We have visitors tonight, Yigg.” She wrapped her arms around the tree’s trunk, and pressed her nose and forehead to it. That was an awfully affectionate gesture for it just being a tree. Weird. The elf turned and looked at the group. “Well, come along, now. Rayla hesitantly followed her into the tree.

[~-~]

Ah, yes. A great hollow. Callum was a little surprised. There were other trees like this? _Yes, though they are quite rare. When an Earthblood elf’s spouse dies, they are planted into a tree. If the couple’s love was strong, the tree grows quickly, and hollows for the other to live in._ Callum gulped. So, basically, this lady was living in her husband’s corpse? Suddenly, he felt wildly uncomfortable to be there. _Ah, do not think of it that way. It is actually quite romantic. More importantly, though, is that visitors are not welcome in hollows such as this. You can probably tell why that is. While she seemed genuine in her intentions, it is likely that she wants something from you._ Great. Not only was going to stay the night in this lady’s dead husband, but it would come at an unknown price.

Callum walked beside Rayla, who looked just as uncomfortable as he felt. The inside of the tree was nice: well furnished, and without a speck of dust. “Well, make yourselves comfortable! I’d prefer that you stay down here, though.” She gestured toward the stairs leading up the tree.

“Thanks…” Callum quickly realised that he didn't know what to call her. “Um… What’s your name?”

The Earthblood elf covered her mouth and gasped. “Oh, I never introduced myself! My name is Loray.”

“I’m Callum.” He gestured toward Rayla, who was still suspiciously eying Loray. “This is Rayla, and this…” He put his hand on Ezran’s head. “Is Ezran.”

“Nice to meet you!” Ezran exclaimed, pushing Callum’s hand from his head.

Loray gave a small, awkward bow, and went upstairs. The three of them sat down on the furniture around the room. “Well, this is pretty nice.” Callum tried.

“Yeah, sure. I don’t like it. It’s too suspicious.” Rayla said.

“Well, she hasn’t tried to kill us yet… Maybe she’d just a nice person!” Ezran added.

“I wish I could agree, Ez, but Rayla’s right. We should be careful.”

Their conversation was interrupted when Loray started back down the stairs. Callum hoped that she hadn’t heard them. With her she brought a tray with what looked like bread on it. “I don’t know if you are hungry, but I brought you some food, just in case. Would you like anything else?”

“How about some cookies and warm milk?” Rayla mocked. 

Callum giggled silently, but Loray didn’t seem to get it. “I… don’t have cookies… or milk. Sorry.”

Rayla pinched her nose, her smirk beginning to peek through. “Oh, well. I guess I’ll just have to go without.”

Callum started to feel bad when she looked genuinely upset for failing as a houseguest. Ezran spoke up first, though. “It’s okay, I’ve got some cookies here.”

He then pulled a small sack from his bag and opened it. Somehow, magically, Ezran actually had cookies on him. He handed them to Rayla, who was trying her best not to die of laughter.

Callum knew that he had to be the one to complete the joke. He was the only one who could pull it off. He pulled out a satchel that held his water, and a small glass he’d fashioned earlier. Then, he worked a little magic of his own. “Umbra.” He set the glass down on the table, and squeezed the water satchel. However, what came out didn’t look like water at all: it looked exactly like milk. “And I’ve got some milk, too.” By now, Rayla couldn’t contain it any longer, and let out a wailing laugh.

Loray didn’t get it, but that was fine. They enjoyed themselves that night, even if it was in mixed company.

…

Although they’d decided to take turns keeping guard, they were all fast asleep. Callum had checked the food for poison with moon magic, and found none. He was the only one left awake, now. Well, him and Loray. 

“Are you still awake?” Loray whispered.

Callum grunted to answer. It’s not like he wanted to be.

“Please, follow me.”

She walked up the stairs. Callum didn’t know what compelled him to listen, but he did. When he reached the top of the stairs, he was greeted with a great view. The tree they were staying in was well over the canopy of the forest, and Callum could clearly see the stars above.

“I saw that you did magic.”

Callum tore his eyes away from the sky to look at Loray. “Yeah?”

“I’ve been looking for a human mage for a long time. You don’t know how hard it is to look for humans when it’s forbidden. That is, until someone brought back the dragon prince. I hope to meet them some day.”

Callum felt a pang of pride, but decided to leave it as it was. Ezran’s identity was supposed to be a secret: revealing Callum’s own would be a bad idea.

“But that’s not the point. Let me tell you a story.”

 _Here we go. She’s gonna tell you the tragic tale of her husband, I guarantee it._ Callum pushed Aaravos’s words away, wanting to give Loray his attention.

“Hundreds of years ago, I met the love of my life.” _Uh huh._ “One day, long after we were married, we lived happily out here on our own.” _Yes?_ “But many humans don’t share my people’s adoration for nature.” _Let me guess… A human killed your husband and now you want Callum to bring him back._ Callum mentally hushed the startouch elf. “A man came by and saw our residence, so full of magical life, and decided to use it for his own devices. My love… He died defending our home. Dark magic rid him of his life. Dark magic can bring him back.”

Callum didn’t like it when Aaravos was right about things he was totally cocky about, but… It was undeniable that he read her like a book. “Listen… I… I can’t. I don’t even know if…” He was about to question its possibility, but… He knew full well it was possible for dark magic to bring back the dead.

“I’ll do anything. I’ll give you everything I have. I’ll… I’ll give you my body! I’ll act as your servant, just bring him back!”

Callum felt for her. If anything had happened to Rayla… There’s not much he wouldn’t do to save her. But still… This was well above his capability, and well, well out of his moral comfort zone. Necromancy was a bad idea, no matter the circumstances. Especially since it was dark magic. “I’m… I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do.”

Loray, who had been kind and cheerful ever since he’d met her, broke down before him. Callum moved to comfort her, but she pushed him away. “Just… Go back to sleep. I’m sorry for waking you.”

Callum walked back down the stairs, and laid back down beside Rayla once more. He definitely wouldn’t be getting sleep that night.

[~-~]

Zubeia was prepared for the worst. She’d ordered the armored human, Soren? To remain at the spire for the time being. He would likely prove useful. Meanwhile, she called for a summit of the archdragons. This hadn’t been done in centuries, but it was vital. If Aaravos had truly returned, and was influencing Callum as Soren had stated, action would have to be taken.

Azymondias was energetic as always. While usually it was endearing, today it quickly became exhausting. While she was doubtful that Rex Igneous and Alcyone would show up, there would definitely be other Archdragons at this summit, and it was imperative that Zym not interrupt them.

Soon enough, dragons started to arrive at the Spire. Zubeia could only hope that they could find a solution that didn’t harm Callum. Azymondias would hate for Callum to get hurt and… She herself didn’t want to see the child come to harm. It would be like… putting down a loved pet. Yes, that was an appropriate analogy.

Another hour passed, and Luna Tenebris arrived. Now, it was time to begin the summit.

[~-~]

Bait was bored. There were no jelly tarts, there was no Ezran, and he was stuck with Zym. Still, things could have been worse. He could be at that stupid meeting.

Then again, it might be interesting to see what’s going on up there. Yes, very interesting indeed. Bait hopped from the bed he was resting on, and made his way to the long staircase leading to the pinnacle. This would take awhile.

…

After way too much climbing for Bait’s liking, he arrived at the queen’s chamber, which was close enough to the pinnacle to hear the dragons’ loud voices. He found a comfortable spot to lay, and prepared to listen.

“If it is truly Aaravos we are dealing with, we must take care of this immediately.” Pah, they’re still in the opening phase of the meeting. How boring.

“What do you suggest, Luna?” Wow, the dragons were on a first-name basis.

“Well, I could wipe him… from what I’ve heard, Aaravos is hiding in the boy’s mind. If we take away his hiding place…” Wipe? Like… cleaning? That didn’t seem like an effective solution to any problem. 

“What if that just gives him full control of the boy?”

“Good point.” This isn’t exactly how Bait expected archdragons to behave… He expected a lot more ‘whomst’ and ‘olde’ and ‘thou…’ 

“Well, what if it was just his memories?”

“And let Aaravos’s influence be his first introduction to the world? Absolutely not. I say we just kill the boy and get it over with.” Woah, woah, woah. That went from zero to ten really fast… Were they still talking about Callum? No way… Harrow had asked Bait to protect his sons, but… Against archdragons?

“I’d… Like to avoid that.”

“What, have you grown attached to a little human?”

“...”

“We could always put him in the same prison. If I recall, Aaravos’s mirror was last brought to the human kingdom of Katolis.” Bait was at full attention now. With mention of murder and imprisonment, there was definitely something up.

“That seems to be our best option, as of right now.” So… They’re going to put Callum in a prison? But they were talking about a mirror… What kind of mirror could they be talking about?

[~-~]

Aaravos knew what it was like to lose someone; he really did. However, he also knew that Callum didn’t have the time to waste on others. 

The boy stayed the night, and left the next morning. Aaravos could tell that Callum was deprived of sleep: it must have been his interaction with that Earthblood the previous night.

No matter. Callum needed to complete his inner balance, and distractions would prove to be detrimental to it. That’s why Aaravos directed him to someplace secret. He’d personally dreaded it, but deep down, knew that he’d see it again: Elarion’s Forest.


	55. The Mistake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claudia makes a mistake.

Dark magic was truly interesting. It was like a parasite, which thieved magic from others. Just like any parasite, it left a mark: this one in particular, however, was of the soul. Souls touched deeply by dark magic remained, long after their coils left the Earth. Such had been the case for Callum’s mother: her last breath of life had been used for revenge, and her spirit latched onto the things she’d coveted the most, severed and split between her children. Of course her spirit would help her children above all else.

However, powerful practitioners of dark magic had a deeper connection. It was kind of like an arcanum, of sorts. Just like a normal arcanum, it manifested itself physically in time. This manifestation, however, was dangerous, and took years off of the lives of dark mages.

Not only did Dark Magic manifest physically, but also spiritually. The mark left on the souls of dark mages was much larger, and more defined. They were so prominent, in fact, that their souls, which would normally fragment and be sent back to their origin, remained whole, and on earth. The most powerful dark mages, who had long since forsaken their souls to dark magic, remained past death, wandering the earth as a wraith.

That’s how Viren knew what was to come.

[~-~]

Claudia thought it was a little odd that there was an Earthblood elf in Katolis. While it was no longer forbidden for elves to enter human territory, it was certainly rare.

The elf looked over, directly at Claudia, and seemed to notice something. Claudia squinted her eyes, suspicious of this sudden interest. She still didn’t exactly like elves. After everything her father did, however, she was never sure if all he ever taught her was false.

“Your hair… Are you a dark mage?” The elf asked, eying her up and down.

Claudia chose her words carefully. “Not anymore. Who are you?”

The elf reached for her backpack and took it off. When she opened it, it was filled to the brim with gold coins. “Desperate.”

…

This was madness. The elf wanted to learn dark magic? Not only was it now illegal, but... she was an elf! Wasn’t it, like, against their religion or something?

Either way, Claudia had been itching to use dark magic again for a while. While Callum had somehow miraculously been able to perform primal magic, humans still wouldn’t be able to rely upon it. She still believed wholeheartedly that dark magic was humanity’s way forward.

While she didn’t want to spend time alone with an elf, it wouldn’t be too difficult to teach her a little. She doubted that the elf wanted to use dark magic against humanity, seeing as how she had her own magic already.

Claudia placed her book on the table before her, ready to start their little lesson. Suddenly, she felt a chill pass through her. _No, Claudia._ Did she hear a voice just then? _Elves cannot learn dark magic. It will be the end of everything._ Yeah, she definitely heard a voice. And it was frighteningly familiar, as well. _You must not teach her, Claudia._ It was a dark whisper from the shadows, finding her ears, and her ears alone. It was spooky, to say the least.

Ominous messages aside, perhaps this was a bad idea. The elf looked impatient, and volatile. And, she didn’t want to betray Ezran, especially while he was off journeying with Callum. “On second thought, this is a bad idea. Sorry, I can’t teach you.”

The elf’s eyes widened for a second, but narrowed almost immediately. “Selfish humans. I met another of your kind in Xadia, and he too was unwilling to teach me, even after I told him my story. You are no different.” The elf was fast: much faster than Claudia. She reached and snatched the book from the table before Claudia could stop her. “I will finally see him again. My dear Yigg.” She stared down at the books cover while Claudia moved to take it back from her. Her hand nearly brushed the spine, but the elf glared at her, and moved away. Claudia didn’t have any reagents, so she was more or less powerless to stop the elf.

The elf ran off with her dark magic book, and Claudia was left, still reeling. What had just happened? Were those warnings real? If they were, then… She’d just made the biggest mistake of her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was a bit short, but I'm just taking the time to set up some stuff that'll be happening soon.


End file.
